“As the bandwidth provided by in-flight connectivity improves, IMS Research projects that in-flight Wi-Fi and other wireless offerings for consumer devices will have a profound effect on the future landscape of the in-flight entertainment market,” the firm said in the study.

  The results of the report, which asked more than 1,000 U.S. respondents the percentage of flight time they spent using at least one of their electronic devices, are in line with forecasts showing unlimited promise for in-flight connectivity providers during the next five years.

IMS Research Market Analyst Rose Yin said that almost 50 percent of respondents said they used personal devices for up to 40 percent of their flight time, with less than 30 percent not using any personal electronics devices during flight and approximately 8 percent spending more than 80 percent of their time on at least one of their electronic devices.

“Although not all passengers use inflight Wi-Fi, it is clear that many still brought along and made use of their electronic devices to help pass time onboard,” Yin said in the report. “We also found that regardless of whether inflight Wi-Fi is offered or not, the amount of time spent on these devices varies little as passengers can just prepare enough offline content prior to boarding to help entertainment themselves later on.”

  The report also showed that MP3 players are the most popular devices used in-flight, with almost a third of respondents using them onboard, followed closely by laptop PCs. Despite the rapid growth in uptake of tablet PCs, fewer than 20 percent of passengers made use of these during flight; however, Yin added that this proportion is still much higher than the percentage ownership of tablet PCs in the general population and that it is expected to continue to rise in the future.  

  “With the trend of ‘bring-your-own-device’ growing in the air, airlines are continuing to look into opportunities to offer an enhanced service to passengers, from wireless in-flight entertainment to in-flight Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity,” said Yin. “One of the key challenges is to offer something that passengers are willing to pay extra for, whether it’s content or games they can download and enjoy, or access to the Internet to check emails and use social networks. Additionally, airlines that seek to target users need to keep in mind that there is already a wealth of content and games people can download for little or no cost prior to boarding. However, if airlines can offer the right product for these devices at the right price, the potential for ancillary revenue could be significant.”