Route-specific catalogues and pre-purchase visibility: Icelandair's onboard ePOS
Small galleys, mixed routes, limited resource
Icelandair uses Iceland's position between Europe and North America to run a network with very different flight profiles, on single-aisle aircraft where every square metre of galley space is contested.
That creates three specific problems. A single onboard catalogue is wrong for most flights, because short European sectors carry a fraction of what a transatlantic service does, and crew scrolling past unavailable products lose time on every transaction. Loading decisions have to be made early, but demand is known late. And with a small team, the airline cannot absorb operational complexity: whatever it deploys has to work without constant supervision.
Founded in 1937, Icelandair has evolved into a key player in international aviation, leveraging Iceland's unique geographical position as a hub between Europe and North America. In 2023, the airline transported 4.3 million passengers, marking a 17% increase from the previous year, and achieved a net profit of USD 11 million, a significant turnaround from a USD 6 million loss in 2022.
A catalogue per route, and stock visibility for crew
Omnevo's ePOS was deployed across Icelandair's fleet, configured around the shape of the network rather than a single national setup.
- Route-specific catalogues. Crew see what is actually on board for that flight, so transactions are faster and passengers are not offered what cannot be served.
- Pre-purchase visibility. An onboard pre-purchase list shows crew who has ordered what and where they are sitting, with seat maps for pre-ordered meals.
- Live stock information. Wi-Fi connected devices give crew inventory levels during service, rather than a count at the end of it.
- Service detail at the point of sale. Combination offers, loyalty payment and an allergen filter, so crew answer questions without leaving the transaction.
- Late loading changes. Catering works from digital tablets and can make loading changes up to three hours before departure.
Commercial priorities
- Crew efficiency. Remove friction from every transaction on flights where service time is short.
- Accurate loading. Pre-order and forecasting so aircraft carry what will sell.
- Sustainability. Less waste through better forecasting and inventory management.
Retail configured to the route
- Crew work from the right catalogue. Route-specific ranges remove scrolling past unavailable products, which shortens every transaction on the sectors where time is tightest.
- Pre-orders fulfilled to the seat, with the pre-purchase list and seat maps giving crew a clear picture before the service starts.
- Loading changes up to three hours before departure, made by catering on tablets rather than through a paper cutoff.
- Detailed sales reporting by product and route, so range decisions are made on performance rather than assumption.
- Less waste through pre-ordering and fresh-item forecasting. [CONFIRM: any figure]
[HOLD: recommend not publishing this page yet. Separately, Icelandair's own corporate results (4.3 million passengers, 17% growth, USD 11 million net profit) must stay clearly labelled in About Client and never sit next to these results, where they read as outcomes of the platform.]
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