A glossary of in-flight terms providing definitions of common and important terms relating to inflight advertising.
The term in-flight advertising refers to the commercials placed all along the journey of an airline’s passenger. such as the in-flight magazines, in-flight entertainment systems (seatback screens), boarding passes, seatback tray tables, overhead storage bins or VIP airports lounges. Ads can be tailored based either on the passenger characteristics (eg. displaying messages from a luxury brand on the boarding pass of a Business Class passenger) or the flight destination (eg. promoting the Paris Lafayette shopping center in the in-flight magazines of the Air France flight from Tokyo to Paris).
An in-flight magazine is a free magazine distributed on board of an aircraft (via the seats) and published by an airline. In-flight magazines aim at entertaining passengers during their flight and usually feature contents about the airline and its destinations. In-flight magazines are also used for advertising purpose by brands to communicate about their products and services.
The term in-flight service refers to every free and paid services offered aboard an aircraft of an airline company to improve passenger’s fly experience. Services usually include food (meals, snacks, beverages) but also the in-flight entertainement system (seatback screens), the in-flight wi-fi services when available on board and digital entertainment systems, the in-flight magazines and the in-flight duty-free shopping.
The term in-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment system available aboard an aircraft of an airline to the passengers during a flight. It mainly consists into a screen placed in the seatbacks. More and more airlines provide wireless IFE systems.
