The 2023 APEX/IFSA Awards: winners announced

The annual APEX/IFSA Awards took place at the APEX/IFSA EXPO on 27 October in Long Beach, California, with Inflight Editor Satu Dahl as part of the judging panel.

The awards recognise specific and innovative new achievements successfully implemented in the past year. Winners of the six different categories of the 2023 APEX/IFSA Awards were revealed during the ceremony at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center.

APEX Best Inflight Connectivity Innovation award honours airlines and/or their vendor partners who have created a new in-flight innovation such as interactive connectivity on board and unique Wi-Fi features/offerings. The finalists in this category were AirFi’s LEO Connectivity Solution, Astronics’ CSC Cabin AXe Wireless Access Point and Stellar Blu’s Sidewinder Multi-modem Terminal. Astronics’ CSC Cabin AXe Wireless Access Point was announced as the winner.

APEX Best Inflight Entertainment Innovation award celebrates airlines and/or their vendor partners who have created a new in-flight innovation that is elevating the passenger experience via GUI design, features/applications, streaming, hardware, seat integration, and so on. Finalists were ABOVE’s One-Stop-Shop Digital Platform, AERQ’s AERENA Accelerated App Integration and Burrana’s RISE Power. Burrana’s RISE Power was chosen as the winning product.

APEX Best Marketing Innovation is given for a new marketing campaign or idea and 2023 finalists were Thales Avionics and Diehl Aerospace’s ICEE, Touch, Warner Bros and LATAM’s IFE Cross-Brand and Virgin Atlantic’s See the World Differently campaign. Thales Avionics and Diehl Aerospace’s ICEE won the award. The “In Cabin Experience Enhancer” (ICEE) combines the IFE with cabin projection, offering an unprecedented passenger interaction via the IFE interface.

APEX/IFSA Best Cabin Innovation award recognises outstanding achievement in creating a thoughtful new cabin environment, including galleys, lavatories, and means to increase efficiency for crew. The finalists were Avianca’s Premium Seats Narrow Body Fleet, Finnair’s Elevated Long Haul Experience and IdeaNova Technologies’ Intouch Nearcast. Finnair took home this award for its impressive new long-haul cabin design.

APEX/IFSA Best Product or Service honours innovations in passenger comfort, including seats, design, lighting, temperature control, air quality and more. Sustainable entries will be given additional credit. 2023 finalists in this category were HRS: Crew & Passenger Solutions, Thales Avionics: Pulse Power and Virgin Atlantic: “The Booth”. Virgin Atlantic was announced as the winner in this category for its cleverly designed Booth social space on board.

IFSA Best Inflight Food or Beverage award recognises a food or beverage product that appeals to passengers’ taste and enhances the onboard experience. The product can be an economy class complimentary or buy on board. 2023 finalists were Air France: Sustainable Onboard Experience, Thales Avionics: JetBlue Meal + Customizable Ordering and United Airlines: Impossible Meatball Bowl. Thales Avionics’ JetBlue Meal + Customizable Ordering won this category.

IFSA Best Onboard Amenity award recognises an amenity kit that provides an enhanced onboard passenger experience. The finalists were Air Astana JSC: Business Class Amenity Kits, Delta Air Lines: Someone Somewhere Amenity Kit Partnership, Fiji Airways: Our Ocean, Our Life Kids Activity Pack and John Horsfall & Sons: Finnair BC Mattress Pad. This award was won jointly by Delta Air Lines and Fiji Airways.

Big congratulations to all the winners!