At Conetic, we are committed to enhancing the passenger experience from the moment the passenger steps into the airport, not just once the passenger is in the air. That’s why we’re introducing the Lounge Entertainment Streaming Platform (Lounge ESP), launching in Q1 2026. It’s the first major milestone of our long-term vision: Project Voyager.
A Connected Future with Project Voyager
Back in 2024, we introduced Project Voyager — a visionary initiative to develop a hybrid media streaming and caching infrastructure with end-to-end integration from media sourcing to audience display. Designed to serve airlines and other travel sectors, Project Voyager aims to create a dynamic media hub that captivates passengers, strengthens brand engagement, and unlocks new revenue streams.
The initiative is anchored by three core pillars:
1. Open Solution: Fully agnostic and compatible with streaming to personal devices, travel partners’ apps, and onboard systems.
2. Modular Architecture: A flexible media supply chain, where each component can function independently or as part of a complete solution.
3. Personalization: An advanced recommendation engine to deliver tailored experiences and new monetization channels.
Beyond the Gate: How Lounge ESP Will Transform Pre-Flight Experiences
The Lounge ESP represents the first major milestone in the Project Voyager solution. Starting with multiple minimum viable product deployments in Q1 2026, it brings digital entertainment directly to airport lounges. Content will be streamed securely to passenger devices, with access limited to the lounge premises via the local Wi-Fi network and complementary fencing features.
This first deployment is designed to test and measure passenger appetite for digital entertainment before each flight, informing future feature development. Optional extras — such as a digital press catalog or curated catering menus — will also help us explore how entertainment connects with other aspects of the lounge experience. Excitingly, three airlines are already engaged to pilot the program, with deployments scheduled to begin in the coming months.
Accelerated by Strategic Partnerships
The program has gained significant momentum through Conetic’s collaboration with Acubed, Airbus’ Silicon Valley Innovation Center, which contributed a reference IFE UX design and a sophisticated recommendation engine.
This recommendation engine is particularly effective in delivering a personalized passenger experience, thanks to its cross-domain intelligence. By learning from entertainment choices, shopping preferences, and catering selections — and operating fully offline while still capturing engagement data — it not only enhances lounge experiences but also provides valuable insights for future onboard deployments.
Additional technology partners play a key role:
● Conetic’s content service provider Touch provides its Touch Media Center (TMC) to manage and process the metadata,
● Conetic’s and Castlabs’ ABOVE platform provides the workflows for processing and distributing content assets.
● Castlabs supplies its DRMtoday solution, its PRESTOPlay player, and STARDUSTmark, its proprietary watermarking product for a secure, high-quality media delivery.
Looking Ahead
As part of our commitment to industry progress and transparency, Conetic will publish a report summarizing key findings from the Lounge ESP MVP deployments. This report will share valuable data and insights gathered during the testing phase, helping the industry better understand the potential of pre-flight entertainment.
Lounge ESP is just the beginning. It’s a first step toward Project Voyager’s vision of seamless entertainment across every stage of the journey. And we’re only getting started.
