Under the agreement, Vodafone Business will apply its cloud, unified communications, software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), Internet of Things (IoT) and security services to Ryanair’s information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure.
Vodafone Business will support 300 Ryanair sites and 153 million passengers across 40 countries, with Vodafone Business directly managing up to 95 percent of Ryanair’s telecoms. This includes hosting the core infrastructure that maintains business processes including online booking, passenger boarding and in-flight transactions, training centres, offices and data centres. Vodafone SIMs will be used in corporate mobiles and devices requiring IoT connections.
Vinod Kumar, CEO of Vodafone Business, commented, “We’re delighted to build on our existing relationship with Ryanair, continuing as their trusted technology partner in helping them to grow their business. Airline passengers will demand even more in the coming years, and we will work alongside Ryanair to help them prepare for the future using our full portfolio of products and services.”
John Hurley, Ryanair’s chief technology officer, added, “We’re continuing to enhance the Ryanair experience for our 153m annual customers, and this extended partnership with Vodafone will provide us with the technical support to allow us to make improvements quickly and seamlessly, including migration to a new wide area network that will enable Ryanair be more agile in its connectivity.”
Vodafone Business says that its ‘Connected Airport’ offering will allow Ryanair to connect a new airport or site in 10 days, giving the airline the ability to adapt quickly and provide new options for customers.
Ryanair has 20,000 IoT devices connected to Vodafone Business globally. This includes tablets and handheld devices used by its aircrew.
