Saudi Arabian Airlines will retrofit the Thales TopSeries i5000 AVOD system on its 22 Boeing 777-200 aircraft, with the first revenue flight scheduled for June 2008.

First class will be equipped with 15.4-inch personal monitors, with 12.1-inch monitors in business class, and 8.9-inch touchscreen monitors in economy class. All are in widescreen (16:9) format.

Seats will feature a laptop power connector, USB port, and an RCA jack that lets passengers view content from their personal digital electronic devices through the IFE system.

Content will include a selection of films, music, games, and Thales’ moving map feature.

GSM Phone Service Saudia also announced it will install AeroMobile’s inflight GSM cell-phone connectivity service on its Boeing 777 aircraft from mid-2008.

AeroMobile has secured all necessary telecoms regulatory approvals in the region to operate the system in accordance with Saudi Arabian Airlines requirements, said David Coiley, AeroMobile’s
Director, Marketing and Strategic Relations.

AeroMobile will issue a more detailed statement on this project in the next few weeks, Coiley said.