Pelayo Couceiro
October 26, 2022
When I have a flight and I look out the window, the following question comes to mind: Why don't airlines use the wings of airplanes as advertising space?
So I'm going to understand why I'm asking this question and explore some ideas of how I imagine it. Let’s go!
Global situation
The pandemic has left airlines in a challenging situation due to mobility restrictions and the need to recover much of the business volume. This means that agility of action plays a very important role in getting out of the situation alive. One example is the increase in cargo transport. This service has tripled between 2016 and 2021, from 11.4% to 40.3% of total revenue.
This is due to new sources of funding for its operations and more competitive shipping pricing. As we can see in this chart, airline revenues are diversified into three major groups:
- Passengers
- Cargo
- Other (fees, alliances, ads)
Today, passengers remain the largest source of revenue. Today's global customer is looking for a complete experience when traveling, which opens the door to developing new partnerships and alliances with other sectors to enhance the travel experience.
What if airlines used the wings of their airplanes to earn more revenue and communicate to passengers that their experience continues beyond the flight? Something that would benefit all players, as the airline would get extra profit to make deal with some operating costs and the ability to offer more competitive tickets to passengers.
Some ideas
Ads are oriented to offer the passengers an experience that extends or starts at the moment they arrive at the destination. Some sectors, such as:
- Ride-hailing & Rental: Request a Cabify or rent a car to move around the city.
- Food: Order food once you arrive at your destination.
- Loyalty programs: Services that go beyond the flight, where airlines offer you an end-to-end experience.
- and many more… (fintech, events in the city, entertainment)
So, here are some ideas of how I imagine this space in airplanes:
Conceptual messages, suggesting the route to your next destination in the city.
Even more direct messages reinforce the action of requesting a Cabify.
One more thing
Something that airlines should value beyond their airplanes is the social media presence of this type of new advertising space. People share their experiences on social networks with photos from their travel windows. Here is an example of a post from any user, next to the advertising space.
I'm writing this post on a flight on my way to Madrid, looking out the window and thinking, why don't airlines use the wings of airplanes as advertising space?
