Bluebox partners with SkyFive to turn inflight connectivity into airline revenue

What happened

Bluebox Aviation Systems and SkyFive, the Air-to-Ground (A2G) inflight connectivity provider, announced a partnership on 12 August 2026 to help airlines earn a commercial return on connectivity investment. The joint proposition combines SkyFive's connectivity platform with Blueview, Bluebox's inflight entertainment, retail, and passenger-engagement platform. Bluebox supplies the entertainment, advertising, retail, and order-to-seat layer, delivered either through integration with SkyFive's OpenServer platform or, where bandwidth allows, through Blueview Cloud, Bluebox's ground-hosted digital services platform. Airlines can offer personalised content recommendations, dynamic advertising, order-to-seat retail with live payment authorisation, and connected onboard commerce.

The target market is the next wave of connected fleets: low-cost carriers and airlines in India, China, and Southeast Asia, where A2G networks are being licensed and built out. Dougie Brown, Head of Account Management and Partnerships at Bluebox, framed the airline question as "how do we get more value from connectivity?"

The partnership follows two earlier 2026 developments. In March, Tigerair Taiwan selected Bluebox to introduce wireless inflight entertainment across its 17 Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline's first IFE deployment, using the battery-powered Bluebox Wow system to stream Blueview to passengers' own devices, with order-to-seat retail planned for a later phase. In April, at the PAX International Awards held alongside Aircraft Interiors Expo, Blueview was named Best IFE System (International) and Air India's Vista Stream platform, powered by Bluebox, won Best IFE and Connectivity (South Asia).

Bluebox has supplied inflight entertainment products, software, and services to the aviation sector since 2004 and serves more than 40 airlines and aircraft operators. It is held directly by the Shackleton Secondaries Funds.

Why it matters for Gorilla Tech Capital

For Gorilla Tech Capital, pairing Blueview with a connectivity provider extends a long-held direct holding's revenue model from entertainment into connected retail and advertising in fast-growing Asian markets. Following the Tigerair Taiwan win in March, it adds to the commercial traction that supports value creation toward an eventual realisation.