SAA’s partnership with Samsung provides a rich content experience for business travellers.

Regional flights just got a lot more interesting. JOHANNESBURG - 22 September 2015.

South African Airways (SAA) has entered into a partnership with Samsung Electronics South Africa to upgrade their in-flight entertainment offering to business class customers travelling on regional flights. Executive travellers demand an in-flight multimedia system that replicates, or even transcends, the technological experience they have on the ground.    

“Our partnership with Samsung is key to our value proposition and will set us apart from our competitors, where no such offering currently exists. We are pleased to be able to deliver an enhanced service, flexibility and product offering to our premium class passengers. We believe that as a brand we need to constantly evolve our offering to our customers, and this new and improved on-board experience alongside, premium mobile Samsung devices, will further augments our positions as a full service and innovative airline,” says Sylvain Bosc, SAA Chief Commercial Officer.    

Samsung is synonymous with quality and innovation, which also resonates with the SAA brand. This collaboration, will deliver a smarter, more convenient in-flight experience for South Africa’s national airline’s customers. With productivity and an improved infotainment experience in mind, the business class traveller can now enjoy the Samsung mobile experience in the air.    

This exclusive agreement will see 500 Samsung tablets available aboard selected regional flights longer than three hours.  SAA begins the project on the Mauritius route at this stage, changing the travel experience for professionals and addressing their unique travel needs by adding more entertainment choices. The tablets are pre-loaded with content that can be used to read magazines, watch movies, listen to music and play games.    

“During trial tests with SAA, passengers responded that they rated convenience and relevant information sources as key while travelling. This partnership enables us to demonstrate the comfort, convenience, and content advantages that a Samsung tablet offers. After an extensive study we have customised the tablet experience to meet the specific and unique requirements of the SAA business class passenger,” says Michelle Potgieter, Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Samsung Electronics SA.  

Today, more corporate companies are partnering with technology firms to increase and enrich customer experiences and therefore, their value proposition. SAA, together with Samsung and Microsoft, developed the customised application for regional flights, and as result of this collaboration, travellers will now be able to access information anywhere, conveniently and benefit from a range of applications including the some of the latest magazines, TV programs and movies. New generation aircraft will also make provision for the tablet to be conveniently placed in a slot in the back of the seat, and equipped with a charging point.  

This technology partnership provides SAA with a value-added service that takes the travel experience into new heights. Cabin crew are able to distribute the devices, which will contain both South African, African and international content, once in-flight and collect the tablets prior to landing for safe keeping.  

“In association with SAA we are able to show our commitment to deliver the latest product innovation and value added services to consumers. Core to this offering is to provide business travellers with the convenience and the relevant content to enhance the travel experience, make their lives more convenient and add to their on-board experience,” concludes Potgieter.  

Issued jointly by: SAA Group Corporate Affairs and Samsung    

About South  African Airways    

South African Airways (SAA) is the leading carrier in Africa, serving 56 destinations, in partnership with SA Express, SA Airlink and its low cost carrier, Mango, within South Africa and across the continent, and nine intercontinental routes from its Johannesburg hub. It is a member of the largest international airline network, Star Alliance. SAA’s core business is the provision of passenger airline and cargo transport services together with related services, which are provided through SAA and its wholly owned subsidiaries: SAA Technical; Mango its low cost carrier; and Air Chefs, the catering entity of SAA. SAA is the winner of the 'Best Airline in Africa’ Award in the regional category for thirteen consecutive years and the winner of ‘Service Excellence Africa’ for three years. Mango and SAA hold the number one and number two successive spots as South Africa’s most on - time airlines.  

About Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.    

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies, redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, cameras, digital appliances, printers, medical equipment, network systems, and semiconductor and LED solutions. We are also leading in the Internet of Things space through, among others, our Smart Home and Digital Health initiatives. We employ 307,000 people across 84 countries with annual sales of US $196 billion. To discover more, please visit our official website at www.samsung.com and our official blog at global.samsungtomorrow.com