Travel Smarter: Thales and Airalo Unlock a Seamless Global eSIM Experience

MEUDON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 4, 2026--

International travellers have increasingly relied on travel eSIMs to avoid high roaming fees, the hassle of searching for a local SIM card or relying on Wi-Fi hotspots. While this has improved connectivity access for millions, the process in the travel space remains cumbersome, still requiring manual configuration for each trip. By integrating Thales’ eSIM capabilities into its global platform, Airalo, the world’s largest travel eSIM platform , is further enhancing its technical architecture to provide its over 20 million users with a smoother travel experience.

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By leveraging Thales’ advanced eSIM solutions, Airalo is further optimizing how travellers access global data. This partnership enhances the Airalo app's underlying technology, providing users with more immediate access to high-quality local networks and a more intuitive experience, so they can stay connected effortlessly wherever they travel. Coverage is available in more than 200 destinations, whether for a single country, a region or worldwide. In just a few minutes, travellers can choose a data plan that fits their needs and activate their eSIM online, enjoying instant connectivity without changing SIM cards or relying on Wi-Fi.

With the new Thales Travel eSIM solution, Airalo users can now simply select a new data plan in the Airalo app and automatically connect to the best local network for their next trips.

“Our mission has always been to give travellers simple, affordable, and reliable connectivity worldwide. Partnering with Thales ensures our users can enjoy a truly seamless travel experience wherever they go. Indeed, by ensuring secure, high-quality connections with reduced manual steps, the solution reduces user friction and fosters stronger loyalty in the service,” said Peter Nussbaumer, VP of Networks, Airalo.

“Thales is proud to support Airalo with its market-leading and award-winning 1 Travel eSIM technology, an innovation which combines security, flexibility, and simplicity, redefining how millions of people connect as they travel. It’s a great example of how advanced connectivity can deliver everyday benefits, while reinforcing reliability in the digital ecosystem,” added Eva Rudin, VP Mobile Connectivity Solutions at Thales.

About Thales

Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. Its portfolio of innovative products and services helps address several major challenges: sovereignty, security, sustainability and inclusion.

The Group allocates €4.5 billion per year in Research & Development in key areas, particularly for critical environments, such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Quantum and Cloud technologies.

Thales has more than 85,000 employees in 65 countries. In 2025, the Group generated sales of €22.1 billion.

About Airalo:

Airalo, founded in 2019, is the world’s largest travel eSIM platform. Trusted by over 20 million travelers, Airalo offers eSIM packages in 200+ destinations, empowering users to connect to mobile networks worldwide instantly. With a remote team of over 300 people, spanning more than 50 countries, Airalo is committed to making mobile connectivity on the move easier, more affordable, and accessible to all.

Travel Smarter: Thales and Airalo Unlock a Seamless Global eSIM Experience

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli police said Friday that they arrested a 36-year-old caught on video attacking a nun in the latest incident targeting Christians near Jerusalem's Old City.

Police said the unnamed man was arrested after the attack Wednesday near David’s Tomb — a holy site outside Zion’s Gate on the southern side of the Old City — “on suspicion of a racially motivated attack,” and remained in custody.

Police video showed the nun bruised and the attacker wearing tzitzit, a fringed undergarment worn by some observant Jewish men.

Olivier Poquillon, the director of the French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, said the nun was a researcher at the school. He called the attack an “act of sectarian violence" in a post on X.

The Old City in Israel-annexed east Jerusalem is a centuries-old walled enclave built atop millennia of history and home to some of the holiest sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims. It is a flash point for tensions as access and ownership to the sites are deeply entangled with the historic and political claims that lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Religious groups have documented a rise in acts of harassment and violence against Christian pilgrims and clergy as well as Palestinian Christian residents, including assaults and spitting, often by ultra-Orthodox Jewish yeshiva students.

Wadie Abunassar, the coordinator of the Holy Land Christian Forum, called attacks targeting Christians a growing phenomenon. He attributed the quick response to the attack on the nun to the fact that it was caught on video.

He said he felt “great anger on the system and great sadness because I feel that this will not end anytime soon.” One of the problems, he said, was the deterrence against such violence.

“Many times in such cases there are no arrests and if there are arrests, sometimes after one or two days, (suspects) are released,” he added. “In some cases, the police do not recommend the prosecution to file charges or to indict them. And in some cases, when there is indictment, the indictment is mild.”

The arrest comes as Israeli treatment of religious minorities is under scrutiny, weeks after police limited access for holiday worship to Muslims as well as Christians, up to Latin Patriarch’s Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

Israel also drew international criticism after a soldier photographed himself having bludgeoned a fallen statue of Jesus on the cross with an ax in southern Lebanon. Israeli leaders later disavowed the incident and said he would be reprimanded.

“In a city sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, we remain committed to protecting all communities and ensuring those responsible for violence are held accountable,” Israeli police said in a social media post about the man arrested for attacking the nun.

Christian pilgrims walk past the site where a nun was attacked by a man last Wednesday, after visiting the Cenacle, traditionally believed to be the site of the Last Supper, in Jerusalem, Friday, May 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man walks in an alley near the site where a nun was attacked by a man last Wednesday, outside the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, May 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Christian pilgrims visit the Cenacle, traditionally believed to be the site of the Last Supper, in Jerusalem, Friday, May 1, 2026, as they walk past the site where a nun was attacked by a man last Wednesday. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)