Vodafone joins Ryanair’s digital transformation journey

Seven-year deal will see complete infrastructure overhaul

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Anne O’Leary, Vodafone Ireland (Image: Vodafone)

Vodafone Business has signed a seven-year deal with Ryanair to become the airline’s technology communications partner in Europe.

Under the agreement, Vodafone Business implement new infrastructure in cloud, unified communications, software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), Internet of Things, and security services.

Vodafone Business will support 300 Ryanair sites and some 200 million passengers across 40 countries, meaning that up to 95% of Ryanair’s telecoms will be managed directly by Vodafone Business. This includes the hosting of its core infrastructure that maintains Ryanair’s core business processes from online booking, passenger boarding and in-flight transactions, to training centres, offices and data centres.

Anne O’Leary, CEO, Vodafone Ireland (pictured), said: “This new agreement also represents Vodafone’s largest rollout of SD-WAN to date, which is being managed in Ireland for delivery across 40 countries. SD-WAN provides customers with a greater level of control and autonomy over their network and greater insight into its performance, while saving time and cost.

“Furthermore, the beauty of the software element of this new network is that it will allow Ryanair to deploy quickly, securely, and without major disruption to existing network architecture and activities.”

John Hurley, chief technology officer, Ryanair, said: “Over the last 30 years, Ryanair has revolutionised and democratised air travel for European citizens, growing to become Europe’s largest airline with the widest route network, connecting more than 200 destinations in 40 countries on the lowest fares.

“As part of our commitment to low fares, more choice, and great care, we’re continuing to enhance the Ryanair experience for our 153 million 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.”

TechCentral Reporters

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