Following their conquest of Japan, the high school idols of hit anime Love Live! have their eyes set on the rest of the world, with an international release for their first theatrical feature. But even that might not be a big enough stage for the animated vocalists. They’re now on their way to taking over the skies as well, since you can now watch Love Live! anime on selected flights on, of all carriers, Qatar Airways.

As one of only of only seven airlines to be awarded a five-star ranking, Qatar Airways seeks to make its passengers journeys as pleasant as possible. Given that reputation, Japanese Twitter user @kazu67_ probably wasn’t too surprised when he settled into his seat on a recent Qatar Airways flight and found a seatback monitor with a selection of video programs to choose from for his in-cabin entertainment.

But what he wasn’t expecting was for Love Live! to be one of his viewing options.

Granted, it was only a single episode, but still, there were series centerpiece Honoka and two of her pals, all set to keep @kazu67_ company as he made his way across the skies.

Of course, it’s not completely out of the ordinary to see anime on international flights, and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso famously debuted inside Japan Airlines’ aircraft before it was shown in theaters. Still, when Japanese animation shows up in places like this, it’s more likely to be in the form of comparatively mainstream feature films, not single episodes of a series aimed dead-center at the hearts of otaku.

What’s more, this wasn’t on a flight going to or from Japan. @kazu67_ snapped these photos while flying from Turkey to Qatar, specifically Istanbul to Doha. And while there are several Japanese companies involved in infrastructure-building ventures in the region, travelling Japanese businessmen are no doubt the minority among the passengers Qatar Airways carries along the route.

Between this and the massive anime-oriented bookstore now found in the Dubai mall, maybe it’s only a matter of time before the Love Live! cast gets contracted to start doing in-flight safety videos for Middle Eastern air carriers.

Source: Togech, Twitter/@kazu67_