Aerospace Engineering Solutions (AES) has been awarded the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for installation of the aircraft-powered version of Bluebox Aviation System’s wireless inflight entertainment system (W-IFE), Bluebox Wow.

Recently issued by EASA, this latest STC (No 10076801) applies to all Airbus A320 variants with the added feature of an automatic pause on PA functionality that halts playback in the event of announcements from the flight deck or cabin crew.

AES believes this certification will open opportunities to provide aircraft operators of both single-aisle and widebody aircraft with Bluebox’s aircraft-powered W-IFE units in the future. The installation is simple, with wiring to the W-IFE units easily accessible via the panels in the aircraft cabin. Utilising aircraft power eliminates the need for the logistical management of batteries and still offer a considerably lighter and lower-cost system than fully fitted W-IFE, according to AES.

The Bluebox Wow units are delivered with Part 21G Form 1 approval and can be supplied with the associated installation kit as a total package.

“I would like to thank our dedicated and highly experienced engineering and design team here at AES for achieving this ‘game-changing’ STC for the installation of Bluebox’s aircraft-powered version of Bluebox Wow on the Airbus A320 variants, especially during these challenging times for the aviation industry”, commented AES director Andrew Dolby. “We are actively working on solutions for other models, including single and widebody aircraft.”

Back in June, new UK start-up airline Flypop announced that it had selected Bluebox Aviation Systems to provide an ancillary revenue-generating retail and in-flight entertainment solution on board its Airbus A330 aircraft.