South African Airways is introducing 500 Samsung tablets on selected routes, pre-loaded with magazines, movies, music and games. This amenity is reserved for business-class passengers and the tablets will be handed out after takeoff and collected before landing by flight attendants.
“Executive travelers expect an in-flight multimedia experience that matches—or even surpasses—what they enjoy on the ground. For that reason, we launched this project last year to offer enhanced in-flight service on selected flights longer than three hours where limited entertainment options were available,” said Kim Thipe, head of marketing at South African Airways.
The tablets were first rolled out in September on flights to Mauritius and will be progressively introduced on additional routes this year, beginning with flights to Nairobi.
The new service aims to give business-class travelers access to a wider selection of entertainment without relying on seatback systems, delivering up-to-date content in a portable, user-friendly format. Flight attendants manage distribution and collection to ensure devices are returned and charged for the next journey, while the airline can control content and updates centrally to maintain a consistent passenger experience.
By focusing the service on flights over three hours, South African Airways targets routes where passengers are most likely to benefit from personal multimedia during their journey. The tablets offer an alternative to traditional in-flight entertainment and provide passengers with flexibility: they can watch movies, listen to music, read digital magazines or play games at their own pace.
Introducing tablets also supports the airline’s broader effort to modernize the passenger experience, especially for business travelers who often require reliable, easy-to-use entertainment and productivity tools while in transit. Keeping the rollout gradual allows the airline to gather feedback and refine the program before expanding it to more routes.