Qatar Airways, Google launch industry-first “Sky Studio Challenge”

CONSUMER NEWS

Nov 23, 2025 9:58 AM

Qatar Airways has unveiled the “Sky Studio Challenge”, an industry-first Starlink-powered creative experiment developed in collaboration with Google.

The challenge demonstrated for the first time that full commercials can be generated, produced, finalised, and uploaded onboard during a single, ultra-long-haul flight at 35,000 feet using Qatar Airways’ free, gate-to-gate*, high-speed Starlink connectivity.

The activation took place on 17 November 2025 onboard a Qatar Airways Starlink-enabled Airbus A350 operating a 15-hour flight from Doha to Atlanta.

Using Google’s latest Gemini video and image AI generation models, two commercials were created entirely inflight.

As the first global challenge to generate, render, edit, and publish full AI-produced films before landing, the “Sky Studio Challenge” relied on Starlink speeds that rival most home broadband networks, enabling heavy file transfers, complex scene generation, real-time cloud workflows, and live collaboration with teams on the ground.

The challenge brought together two of the most influential figures in AI film-making: PJ Accetturo and Torey Kohara.

Accetturo is known for the viral Kalshi NBA Finals spot and collaborations with Grok and IM8. He is recognised for developing bold visual concepts, dynamic pacing, and high-impact storytelling.

Kohara, a prolific tech-focused director behind major Google campaigns, is celebrated for soft, cinematic narratives that transform complex technical concepts into emotionally resonant films.

Their contrasting creative approaches presented the breadth of possibilities when cutting-edge AI tools are paired with reliable, high-speed inflight connectivity.

Launched one day after the World’s Best Airline, as voted by Skytrax in 2025 for the ninth time, announced it now operates over 100 Starlink-enabled widebody aircraft, the challenge served as a compelling application of this milestone in practice.

With more than half of the airline’s widebody fleet now fitted with the fastest Wi-Fi in the sky, the service is embedded across Qatar Airways’ long-haul and ultra-long-haul routes operated by the airline’s Starlink-equipped Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 aircraft.

These aircraft serve the majority of the airline’s destinations in the Americas and Australia, as well as prominent routes in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

This scale of real, in-service delivery reinforces Qatar Airways’ position as the world’s leading airline in inflight connectivity, and the operator of the world’s largest number of Starlink-enabled widebody aircraft.

Qatar Airways Senior Vice President Marketing and Corporate Communications, Babar Rahman, said: “This first-of-its-kind challenge demonstrates why Qatar Airways is leading the industry in inflight connectivity, which our passengers can experience today rather than months or years from now. As the first airline to offer Starlink in the MENA region, we are already setting new benchmarks and delivering industry-first achievements at an unprecedented pace. It has been incredibly exciting to work with Google and two world-renowned AI filmmakers, PJ Accetturo and Torey Kohara, and to see Gemini’s capabilities utilised onboard to showcase the level of connectivity our passengers enjoy on every Starlink-enabled flight, delivering what is essentially a faster-than-home Wi-Fi experience. Completing two full commercial films during a single 15-hour flight was only possible because our Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 aircraft already fly with the fastest and most reliable Wi-Fi in the sky. This proves that Qatar Airways has moved beyond talking about the future of inflight connectivity to delivering it increasingly and at scale across our global network of over 170 destinations today.”

Google Regional Marketing Director Middle East and Africa, Najeeb Jarrar, said: “It’s amazing to see our AI tools and models, including our state-of-the-art video generation model, Veo 3.1, being utilised to tell the story of Qatar Airways in an interactive and creative way. As a marketer, this allows us to create ads and deliver great work with a brief-to-launch timeline measured in hours. A huge thanks to both PJ Accetturo and Torey Kohara for accepting the challenge, and for being able to steer the video generation process. We are very happy with the collaboration with Qatar Airways and we look forward to experimenting together with more tools and technologies in the future.”

While commercials have been filmed inside aircraft before, no brand has ever produced complete AI-generated films during a single flight and published them before landing.

Starlink’s bandwidth and reliability enabled a level of capability previously unattainable in aviation, from complex multi-layer editing and rendering to high-volume cloud processing typically restricted to the ground.

The films produced on 17 November 2025 are live on Qatar Airways’ YouTube channel. The winning commercial will be determined by the audience engagement it receives over the course of one week.

Qatar Airways and Google share a longstanding collaboration across multiple innovation-led initiatives.

Gemini’s latest image and video AI generation models were selected for their ability to produce high-quality footage quickly – a performance that relies heavily on high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity.

Without Starlink, now available on our Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 aircraft, an activation of this scale would not have been technically achievable. -TradeArabia News Service