Emirates has partnered with Shahid, the world’s leading Arabic streaming platform and part of MBC Group, to offer premium content exclusively onboard its award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice.

This partnership makes Emirates ice the only channel to offer access to highly popular titles by Shahid Originals, aside from the streaming service’s own premium-subscription online platform.

From July 2022, all Emirates customers can enjoy an extensive selection of over 135 hours of Shahid content from 15 shows with something to appeal to all members of the family. Programme subtitles also make the content accessible to an even bigger international audience onboard Emirates.

The newly added content from Shahid adds to the extensive collection of Arabic content already available on Emirates with over 420 channels of audio and 170 channels of films and TV shows.

In total, Emirates’ award-winning ice inflight entertainment system, with over 5,000 channels, offers an unmatched breadth of content in 40 languages to cater to its global customer base, with more than 4,000 hours of movies and TV, and close to 3,500 hours of music and podcasts.

Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Retail, IFE & Connectivity said: “We are excited to welcome the world’s leading Arabic streaming service content onboard – so passengers can catch up on all their favourite entertainment inflight, just as they do at home. We look forward to growing the partnership and making even more of their popular shows and movies available to our customers in the future.”

Natasha Matos-Hemingway, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer (VOD) at MBC Group added: “We are extremely proud to partner with Emirates, an award-winning airline who, like us, is always striving to give the best to their customers. Emirates is our first airline partner, and their global footprint enables us to reach viewers from many new markets and broaden the reach of our shows and brand – there is no better match for our ambitions.

“We are excited to offer Shahid’s content for Emirates’ customers to enjoy, just in time for the busiest travel season of the year.”

Shahid’s biggest original production Rashash, which has been hugely popular in the Arab region, will be streamed for the first time by an airline on-board Emirates. In addition, Emirates customers can enjoy a broad range of exclusive Shahid original titles and other hit MBC Group titles including: Anbar 6, Hell's Gate, Dor Al Omor, Nemra Etnein, Al Shak, Al Jedar Al Rabea, Rahn El Tahqiq, 2020, Bi Saraha Ma’a, Dofa'at Beirut, Aghani Min Hayati, Kaf w Dafoof, and Salon Zahra. Content originates from territories including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, Egypt, and Lebanon.

In addition to entertainment, Emirates ice offers a range of other practical features, such as checking the status of the flight while en route; a real-time view of the sky during take-off and landing from cameras that are fixed on the aircraft’s nose, tail and underbelly; a helpful travel guide about Emirates’ hub Dubai; EmiratesRED; the world’s first inflight TV shopping channel; and a range of personal development content including LinkedIn Learning.

Prior to their flight, Emirates customers can browse through over 5,000 channels of on-demand movies, music, TV shows, box sets, and documentaries, and create their very own playlist on The Emirates Mobile App, and sync it on board for a more personalised travel experience. – TradeArabia News Service