Spirit Airlines on board with in-flight advertising

US Airways was the first domestic airline to adopt the practice of advertising on tray tables, according to the airline’s website. Low-cost European carrier Ryanair tries to sell its potential advertising partners on its cabins’ “160 square feet of impactful, interior media space.” Other airlines vary in their in-flight-advertising practices, with many airlines still mostly ad-free (save for in the magazine pages in the seat-back pockets).

Now Spirit Airlines is on board with blatant in-flight advertising, and is getting ready to plaster ads on all of its flights. Advertisers can pitch their wares on boarding passes, overhead bins, seat backs, tray tables, napkins, cups, drink carts and even, gasp!, window shades.

The airline’s first onboard-advertising partner is the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, whose ads are being placed on planes this week.

In a press release geared toward advertisers, Spirit Airlines pitched, “Where else can you find 100 percent saturation with a targeted captive audience that will be actively engaged by your ad for an average of three hours? Why pay for a five-second gaze time on a billboard when you have more than 2,000 times the viewing exposure aboard a three-hour flight?”

Spirit Airlines claims to offer not just value for advertisers but a way to offset high fuel costs so that it can preserve competitive fares for its customers.

What do you think of onboard advertising? If it translates to cheaper flights, do you mind it? Tell us in the Comments section below.

– Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: SpiritAir.com]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 4:30 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Airline travel, Business Travel, Frequent Flier, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.