1Time unveils PlayStations onboard
02. Oct, 2008
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Johannesburg – Low cost carrier 1time airline, today announced yet another airline first by investing their energy into a positive new concept in partnership with Playstation.
On selected 1time flights, the airline will now be offering PlayStation Portable units at a nominal fee for rental to passengers for their onboard entertainment. To start with, five PSPs will be available on selected flights and rentals will take place on a first come, first served basis. The rental price can be settled with cash or with a credit card. In order to ensure hygienic usage standards are maintained, the rental includes a brand new set of disposable silicon ear pieces which are placed onto the headphones supplied as part of the console. A regularly updated menu of movies and games will be easily and individually accessible to all passengers, who can rent a console at the affordable price of R60.00 for the duration of the flight.
Keeping in line with 1time’s “More Nice. Less Price.” philosophy the carrier is now adding additional value to its passengers’ flight experience by providing in-flight entertainment at a reasonable cost. Instead of investing millions of Rands into a fixed in-flight entertainment system on their flights – which would negatively affect ticket prices – 1time came up with the novel idea of carrying portable gaming and video consoles onboard their planes. The PSP consoles are compact and easy to store and passengers can now enjoy entertainment on board without feeling the pinch on the price of their airtickets. Therefore, the cost of the entertainment is for the individual, rather than costed over the entire passenger load.
1time Marketing Manager, Anya Potgieter, who has spearheaded the 1time PSP experience concept in partnership with brand communications agencies Six Degrees Media and Leegra Marketing, explains that flying, is sometimes considered an inconvenient and tiresome wait between you and your desired destination. 1time, with its decent legroom and leather seats has instituted a new-fangled way in which to make the journey itself, a destination of relaxation and leisure, instead of hoping that the journey will be as quick as possible.
“By making PSPs available to 1time passengers, we’re not only providing a unique form of in-flight entertainment in comparison to our competitors,” says Potgieter, “We’re literally putting PSPs into the hands of potential new users who may traditionally not own a PSP of their own. This opportunity, from SterKinekor’s perspective (the distributor of the console), is invaluable in reaching a whole new market from a gaming perspective.”
The longest flight offered by 1time is the Zanzibar-Johannesburg leg, which gets passengers across Africa in approximately three and a half hours. In qualitative research done by 1time, 48% of their passengers are parents. Their comments have revealed that having a quiet and well-behaved child, thanks to their absorption in a PSP game or movie, makes for a pleasant and hassle-free flight for themselves and all fellow passengers. The same research showed that people who own PSPs hardly travel with them on flights, but would certainly rent them if they were available.
“Perhaps in the future, we’ll find out that our passengers will provide their own UMD movies and games and rent the PSP from the airline – cutting out the extra piece of equipment to carry around,” concludes Anya.
As an onboard entertainment solution, 1time has again pioneered the idea to bring two trendy brands together to offer their passengers a more nice experience on board. Despite the price of fuel, the added value that an enjoyable on-board experience brings looks set to tip the sales scales in 1time’s favour during a competitive price war.
My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
yes please. now this is what is going to set them apart