Saudia has launched its first flight equipped with high-speed internet on board, in a trial aimed at testing the service and gauging passengers' opinions ahead of its full commercial launch in the near future.
This step is an important milestone in Saudia's services, reflecting its ongoing commitment to enhancing the travel experience and providing integrated digital connectivity that keeps pace with the technological transformation in the aviation sector, according to a press release published on the company's account on "LinkedIn".
The new technology enables seamless connectivity at speeds of up to 300 megabits per second, with the potential to be upgraded in the future to exceed 800 megabits per second. The service enables passengers to browse the internet, follow live streams and hold virtual meetings via applications such as Zoom and Teams without interruption.
The service also supports watching content from platforms such as Netflix, Shahid and Amazon Prime in high quality with stable performance, with the ability to use more than one device and switch between them easily.
Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser and Director General of Saudia Group Eng. Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman Al-Omar witnessed the trial phase of the service on flight SV1044 at an altitude of 35,000 feet.
During the flight, the minister watched a live broadcast of a Roshn Saudi League match, gave a live television interview to Al Arabiya channel and made a video call with Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Alswaha.
Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser affirmed that internet service has become an essential element of the modern travel experience rather than a technological luxury, and pointed to the importance of speeding up completion of the project so that it is applied to all aircraft in the fleet once the regulatory procedures are completed.
For his part, Eng. Ibrahim Al-Omar explained that Saudia is continuing to develop the digital travel experience through innovative solutions, and confirmed that the new service will be free for all customers after its official launch.
He added that about 20 aircraft in the Saudia fleet have already been equipped with this technology, with implementation of the project to be gradually extended to cover the entire current fleet and the new aircraft that will join service.
To view the post on Saudia's account on "LinkedIn", click here.
