Inflight Advertising

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Inflight Advertising Costs (2016)

January 24, 2013

Our very own In-flight Media Planning Tool is free to use and allows advertisers to create an initial in-flight media plan in just a few simple steps. The IMP will give you details about advertising in in-flight magazines such as:

• circulation
• audience
• publishing frequency
• inflight advertising costs (See below for sample prices/rates)

Alternatively, do not hesitate to get in touch with our in-flight advertising experts directly.

Which airlines should you advertise with?

It is important to understand where your target market is based or is travelling to in order to select the right airline(s) to advertise with. Demographics such as nationality, socio-economic group and language are all vital to know. American Airlines produces an in-flight magazine called “Nexos” which is published in Spanish caters to the growing Latin American market. There are also some in-flight magazines such as “Global Flying” which are available only on business airline flights and private aircraft. Each airline is unique in the types of passengers it carries.

IMM International’s experience in the in-flight industry enables us to help you select the most appropriate airlines to advertise with. If your marketing campaign is regional or global in scale, then there are naturally lower in-flight advertising costs. Get in contact with IMM to find out about our regional advertising packages – Air Travel Europe, Air Travel Asia and Air Travel USA.

What class of passenger are you targeting?

There are three types of class on the majority of international flights: First, Business and Economy.

In-flight advertising is renowned for being able to hone in on high-end consumers however it’s possible to make your campaigns even more targeted by specifying which class of passengers you want to reach.

For example, Singapore Airlines distributes 2 x in-flight magazines to its passengers: “Silverkris” (all classes); “Priority” (first class). To be able to target by passenger class make in-flight magazine advertising a great option for targeted marketing campaigns.

Is the inflight campaign part of a broader multi-channel advertising campaign?

In-flight advertising consists of many different channels which are used in more traditional settings.

For example, if you are running print ads in newspapers or magazines, it will be straightforward to adapt the creative slightly in order to advertise in inflight magazines. This is also true for using existing TV commercials for in-flight TV advertising and with digital display banners for advertising on airlines’ websites. As well as the efficiency that this brings, it is also very cost-effective as production costs will remain low.

How many people do you want to reach?

Different advertising campaigns will have different objectives in terms of reach and scale. In-flight advertising is very flexible and allows you to select a channel based on how many consumers you want to reach. It is important to note the difference between two industry terms – circulation and audience (aka “readership”). “Circulation” is essentially the total number of inflight magazines published and distributed to passengers. “Audience” is the total number of passengers who could potentially read the magazines.

For example, one inflight magazine will most likely be read by a number of different passengers at different times. These figures can be found for the world’s largest airlines on our inflight magazines and inflight TV pages, as well as via our unique In-flight Media Planning Tool.

How long will your campaign last?

The duration of your intended in-flight advertising campaign is also related to how many people you want to reach; the longer your ads run, the more people you will ultimately reach. The issue frequency of in-flight magazines differs greatly from airline to airline. Some are produced on a monthly basis, others on a bi-monthly or quarterly basis. Again this offers advertisers a highly flexible advertising channel which can be run for a shorter test period. The media cost of the campaign will take into account the intended duration.

What will be your intended inflight media mix?

Like in every other area of media planning, getting the right in-flight media mix is essential. The multi-channel nature of inflight advertising allows advertisers to stay in touch with passengers throughout the various stages of their journey.

For example, a passenger may see your ad on his/her e-boarding pass, whilst waiting in the airport lounge before departure, on the inflight entertainment system whilst onboard etc. In addition to communicating with passengers at multiple touch points, there may also be cost reductions if buying advertising on multiple media channels.

The most obvious forms of in-flight advertising are in-flight magazines and in-flight TV, however there are other channels which may be more suitable and cost-effective such as digital advertising on airlines’ websites and on their e-newsletters to frequent flyers. With so many different types of inflight media there are obviously different pricing structures involved – a magazine ad will typically be a set price for a set period whereas digital advertising costs may well be based on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) basis.

What ad formats do you want to select?

As with advertising in regular magazines and newspapers, the cost of advertising in inflight magazines is primarily determined by the ad format. There are many sizes and positions of magazine ads some of which include: full page; half page; page facing contents; inside or outside back cover; and double page spread. Whether or not the ad will be in full color also needs to be taken into account.

Can you give me some example prices/rates?

The above factors vary the price of in-flight advertising greatly, however we thought it was necessary that we at least give you some ballpark figures!

A 30-second in-flight TV advert on Emirates Airlines starts from upwards of 114,000 USD per month whereas a 20 to 45-second on-board TV ad on Air France starts from 64, 000 Euros. For in-flight magazine advertising costs, a full color page in Aeroflot (distributed to all classes) is approximately 16,000 USD for one month. Advertising in Cathay Pacific however is more expensive at 27, 120 USD for a full color page for one month, however this in-flight magazine has a higher circulation and reaches over 1, 87 million passengers.

With the advent of digital opportunities such as advertising in frequent flyer e-newsletters and banner advertising, this makes targeting air passengers much more accessible for advertisers with lower budgets.