January 20, 2005 - FROM the giants of the industry to a turboprop-equipped regional serving communities beyond the Arctic Circle, the world’s airlines are sitting up and taking notice of this year’s Inflight Passenger Entertainment and Communications (IPEC) conference and its new companion event, the Low Fare and Regional Aviation (LARA) Summit.

An email campaign directed at potential participants earlier this week drew several hundred responses. Among those clicking their way around the e-brochure were representatives of Continental, Delta, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Northwest and Singapore, low-fare operators bmibaby, Virgin Express and WestJet, and regionals Air Atlantique, Air Nostrum and Wideroe of Norway.

Airlines with delegates already signed up to attend include Virgin Atlantic, Kuwait Airways, Britannia Airways and Tunisair. Awaiting them is an authoritative programme featuring, among others, the head of IFE for soon to be launched Virgin America and the Air Canada executive responsible for the most radical new inflight entertainment installation programme in living memory.

Plus an exhibition area that will feature connectivity giants ARINC, SITA and Inmarsat; APS-Wencor, leaders of the booming handheld IFE market with their digEplayer; Inflight Canada, creator of the radical iCACHE underfloor installation solution; and Lufthansa Systems, which played a key role in implementing the world’s first satellite broadband service.

IPEC 2005 will also host the inaugural Inflight Online Awards, launched to mark a momentous year that has seen the emergence of game-changing lightweight IFE solutions for the low-fare and regional sectors, the creation of two ventures to deliver onboard cellphone services, and the operational debut of inflight Internet connectivity for airline passengers.

To be presented alongside the well established Regional Airline World Awards at a gala dinner on the the evening of March 8, the Inflight Online Awards will recognise excellence in three categories:

* Airline IFE Service of the Year

* IFE Product of the Year

* Connectivity Provider of the Year

The winner in each category will be selected on the basis of a free vote by Inflight Online readers. To cast your vote, go to http://shephard.info/ifvote.htm. As a thank-you for voting, we will enter you in our prize draw to win a Creative Labs MP3 player combining hours of digital audio with an FM radio. Closing date for votes is February 11.

A representative of the winning company in each category will receive a handsome perpetual trophy at the IPEC/LARA Awards dinner.

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