Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) has officially revealed its brand-new in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, Beyond, during Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2022, which started today, at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The new IFE system will further transform SAUDIA’s onboard experience with over 5,000 hours of HD content, including, but not limited to, Western and Eastern films and tv shows, as well as a library of e-books, weather reports, shopping, meal ordering, flight information and agenda timeline.
Beyond also features the largest Islamic content in the skies with guests notified of prayer times throughout the journey. A distinct Kid Mode allows younger guests to enjoy a selection of their favourite cartoons, movies, and games.
In addition to entertainment, Beyond offers a range of other practical features, such as the ability to check the status of the flight while en route; a real-time view of the sky during take-off and landing from cameras. Guests onboard can also enjoy shopping and browsing the latest products from the comfort of their seat.
Essam Akhonbay, SAUDIA VP Marketing & Product Management said, “We’ve never stopped improving our product. The new IFE will further transform SAUDIA’s onboard experience. The success of SAUDIA’s IFE investments and strategy is demonstrated by the loyalty and positive feedback from our guests across all cabin classes. We are delighted to showcase our new IFE with visitors at the ATM.”
The new IFE System Beyond will be implemented gradually across the SAUDIA fleet by the end of this year.
About Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA)
Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) is the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Established in 1945, the company is one of the Middle East’s largest airlines. SAUDIA is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO). It has been one of the 19 member airlines of the SkyTeam alliance since 2012.
SAUDIA has received many prestigious industry awards and recognitions. Most recently, it was ranked a Global Five-Star Major Airline by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), and the carrier was awarded the Diamond status by APEX Health Safety.
For further information on Saudi Arabian Airlines, please visit www.saudia.com
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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7 Comments
In flight entertainment has come a long way since the days when a single film was shown on big screens strategically placed throughout the plane. Some stingy airlines even charged for headphones. I can see these Saudia offerings helping to easily pass the hours.
Hi Roger – I’d forgotten the days when we all had to watch the same movie all at the same time! I’m old enough to remember in-flight movies being a new thing, in fact. How things have moved on.
My inner mathematician wonders how many times you could fly round the globe, watching 5000 hours of content without having to repeat your entertainment option? Apologies I am an accountant through and through.
Haha… good question, Peter! The longest flight in the world is currently just over 20 hours. To fly right around the world continuously (which wouldn’t happen as you’d need to stop to refuel), I think you can count on around 50 hours (it’s going to vary depending on weight of the plane, weather, etc.) but 50 keeps the maths easy as it means you could, in theory, fly around the world 100 times (5,000 / 50) before you had watched all the content.
Another way of looking at is that there’s 208 days’ worth of non-stop watching available (that’s not even accounting for sleep, so I think you could assume closer to a year)… by which time I’m sure they’ll have new content available!
Digital really has been a game changer for airline entertainment, usually there is so much on offer. There have been times when I’ve wanted the flight to carry on as there were still films that I wanted to watch.
I have to say that sometimes they switch off the entertainment system too early before landing. I’ll certainly be looking out for Saudia as they look to be industry leaders.
The new IFE system will further transform SAUDIA’s onboard experience with over 5,000 hours of HD content, including, but not limited to, Western and Eastern films and tv shows, as well as a library of e-books, weather reports, shopping, meal ordering, flight information and agenda timeline.
The new IFE system will further transform SAUDIA’s onboard experience with over 5,000 hours of HD content, including, but not limited to, Western and Eastern films and tv shows, as well as a library of e-books, weather reports, shopping, meal ordering, flight information and agenda timeline.
Beyond also features the largest Islamic content in the skies with guests notified of prayer times throughout the journey. A distinct Kid Mode allows younger guests to enjoy a selection of their favourite cartoons, movies, and games.
In addition to entertainment, Beyond offers a range of other practical features, such as the ability to check the status of the flight while en route; a real-time view of the sky during take-off and landing from cameras. Guests onboard can also enjoy shopping and browsing the latest products from the comfort of their seat.
Essam Akhonbay, SAUDIA VP Marketing & Product Management said, “We’ve never stopped improving our product. The new IFE will further transform SAUDIA’s onboard experience. The success of SAUDIA’s IFE investments and strategy is demonstrated by the loyalty and positive feedback from our guests across all cabin classes. We are delighted to showcase our new IFE with visitors at the ATM.”
The new IFE System Beyond will be implemented gradually across the SAUDIA fleet by the end of this year.
About Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA)
Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) is the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Established in 1945, the company is one of the Middle East’s largest airlines. SAUDIA is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO). It has been one of the 19 member airlines of the SkyTeam alliance since 2012.
SAUDIA has received many prestigious industry awards and recognitions. Most recently, it was ranked a Global Five-Star Major Airline by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), and the carrier was awarded the Diamond status by APEX Health Safety.
For further information on Saudi Arabian Airlines, please visit www.saudia.com
In flight entertainment has come a long way since the days when a single film was shown on big screens strategically placed throughout the plane. Some stingy airlines even charged for headphones. I can see these Saudia offerings helping to easily pass the hours.
Hi Roger – I’d forgotten the days when we all had to watch the same movie all at the same time! I’m old enough to remember in-flight movies being a new thing, in fact. How things have moved on.
My inner mathematician wonders how many times you could fly round the globe, watching 5000 hours of content without having to repeat your entertainment option? Apologies I am an accountant through and through.
Haha… good question, Peter! The longest flight in the world is currently just over 20 hours. To fly right around the world continuously (which wouldn’t happen as you’d need to stop to refuel), I think you can count on around 50 hours (it’s going to vary depending on weight of the plane, weather, etc.) but 50 keeps the maths easy as it means you could, in theory, fly around the world 100 times (5,000 / 50) before you had watched all the content.
Another way of looking at is that there’s 208 days’ worth of non-stop watching available (that’s not even accounting for sleep, so I think you could assume closer to a year)… by which time I’m sure they’ll have new content available!
Digital really has been a game changer for airline entertainment, usually there is so much on offer. There have been times when I’ve wanted the flight to carry on as there were still films that I wanted to watch.
I have to say that sometimes they switch off the entertainment system too early before landing. I’ll certainly be looking out for Saudia as they look to be industry leaders.
Now that in-flight entertainment is so good it’s a real turn around and I actually look forward to a flight.
There have even been flights that I haven’t wanted to end as there have been films and progs that I still wanted to watch.