Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia’s new premium international airline, announced it has selected Viasat to provide a full, fast, free in-flight connectivity.
Riyadh Air Boeing 787-9 – Image Riyadh Air
The equipment will be installed on the airline’s initial Boeing 787 Dreamliner factory-installed deliveries.
It is offered free for Riyadh Air loyalty club members.
Riyadh Air loyalty members will enjoy seamless, free onboard streaming, social scrolling, web browsing, and gaming onboard, available from gate to gate (where permitted). Passengers who are not loyalty members will have the option to sign-up onboard the aircraft with a short sign-up process and get online instantly.
This will be powered by Viasat’s advanced, multi-orbit ready satellite network. This service includes access to streaming subscriptions on guests’ own personal devices, which 71% of passengers recently surveyed report as a priority activity while connected in-flight in Viasats passenger experience survey.
Furthermore, Viasat’s network will enable Live TV on the aircraft’s seatback screens, providing a variety of news and sports channels for guests’ enjoyment. The fully integrated Wi-Fi solution will also power Riyadh Air’s apps, seatback screens, and digital channels, all designed to transform the travel industry with hyper-personalization.
In Quotes
Anton Vidgen, VP of Guest Experience at Riyadh Air said
“At Riyadh Air, we are committed to redefining the guest experience through innovation and technology,”
“Partnering with Viasat, we were empowered to realize our discerning vision for guests’ connectivity. In turn, our guests will enjoy free, personalized, and seamless Wi-Fi that will fully integrate with the full Riyadh Air experience. This partnership is a key enabler of our digitally native onboard strategy: setting a new standard for premium travel.”
Meherwan Polad, Chief Commercial Officer, Viasat Commercial Services, added
“Riyadh Air’s vision to create a digitally native, guest-centric airline aligns perfectly with Viasat’s mission to connect the world. We are proud to be selected as Riyadh Air’s launch connectivity partner, providing our most advanced Ka-band technology to power their comprehensive onboard experience across all routes they operate. Viasat’s unique ability to deliver the consistent, high-quality connectivity that Riyadh Air’s guests demand will be transformative for the Middle Eastern commercial air travel landscape.”
Powering the inflight Wi-Fi experience
The growth of inflight connectivity continues – as well as the making access to the content free (for the price of your login credential or loyalty information).
The service will be powered by Viasat’s Ka-band satellite technology and multi-orbit solution capabilities – allowing Riyadh Air flexibility to leverage future satellite technologies and the bandwidth demands of its users.
We’ll have to see how it performance once in the sky – but the Viasats coverage and bandwidth is normally a welcome thing to see in the air.
Editors note: We’re going to see a lot more Passenger Experience announcements as we ramp up to Aircraft Interiors Expo 2025 and the Passenger Experience Week in Hamburg. We’ll be on the ground reporting from the show
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