Evidence that people are flying less is thin on the ground, despite growing fears over the role of air travel in climate change. Global air traffic reached an all-time high last year, rising by almost 5% on 2006 to 4.4 billion passengers, according to the Airports Council International (ACI).
The European air scene is in similarly good health; in 2006, traffic across the continent's airports increased 4% year on year, fuelled by the strength of the low-cost carriers and the burgeoning eastern European economies.
For advertisers, the so-called "travel corridor" is a crucial tool to reach a valuable, but elusive, slice of the affluent, on-the-move leisure and business market.
Evidence suggests that air travellers are a particularly receptive bunch: research by oiutdoor firm JCDecaux found that passengers are in a heightened state of alertness throughout the entire airport process. Pulse rates were highest at drop-off and check-in, meaning that passengers are most receptive to simple ad messages: short campaigns that reinforce earlier advertising or ads for familiar brands.
The way in which advertisers can reach the desirable frequent-flier market is set to transform over the next six to 12 months. In July this year, the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) gave the green light for mobile phones and BlackBerry-type devices to be used on planes.
European airlines are keen to embrace the technology. Air France is due to introduce an in-flight connectivity service, BMI is looking to begin tests later this year and Ryanair expects to equip its fleet with OnAir technology that will allow passengers to call, text and email in-flight.
The new era of in-flight communication will open doors for companies such as Inviseo Media, which has signed an exclusive deal to fit tray-table ads in Ryanair planes as a prime way of targeting business travellers, who make up 30% of the airline's 50 million passengers per year. Inviseo Media has also signed up with German Wings, the low-cost airline division of Lufthansa. Here, advertisers to date include T-Mobile, Microsoft, HP and Ford.
Guaranteed dwell time
Inviseo's model involves advertising panels fixed into tray tables, with revenue shared with the airline. Dominic Stead, chief executive of Inviseo, says: "The USP is that we have a guaranteed dwell time. Low-cost air travellers are a high-quality audience where 75% of the passengers are ABC1. They are a captive audience; our product is in front of people for at least 40 minutes per flight."
If mobile phones on planes becomes the norm, Inviseo will look at finding a way - possibly through texts - to interact with passengers as they sit in front of tray panels. Stead adds: "This opportunity will open up major revenue streams for us."
However, other industry figures feel that allowing passengers to use their mobiles on flights will be unpopular. Peter Colvin, senior account director, Mediaedge:cia International, says: "People talking on mobiles in planes is controversial. Planes are the one place you can retreat to and many people enjoy the haven of being cocooned away from the crowd. I'm not sure this is the future."
According to Colvin, the majority of air travel-related advertising is targeted at the elusive frequent flier and high-end business travellers, and advocates a "surround-sound" travel corridor strategy. For example, campaigns might incorporate a multimedia strategy that combines a taxi with a big airport poster, dispatch-box media, ads in business lounges and ads inside the plane.
One example of this multi-pronged attack is the Xerox campaign launched in 2005 across 15 European markets. In addition to advertising in European newspapers, on websites and across European TV stations, Xerox booked a Heathrow site with 3-D light bulbs that constantly changed colour, underlining the colour message the firm wanted to put out.
Increasingly, airports will be built with ad space woven into their structure: when it opens in March 2008, Heathrow Terminal Five will be the only airport in the world where advertising was planned into the design from the start. Terminal Five will also include the world's largest digital screen and bespoke furniture featuring frameless advertising panels that will "float" between steel poles.
Julie France, managing director of JCDecaux Airports, which has the contracts for 141 airports globally, says: "(Terminal Five) is an uncluttered environment. For example, advertising is set into the wall and there will be ads built into beacons directing people to locations within the airport."
Digital will also feature strongly: when it is finished, Terminal Five will have around 200 digital screens. France says: "Digital allows you to target people at different stages of their journeys. The big opportunity is to broaden the client-base by offering greater flexibility; you can advertise for only an hour and you can also do animation."
Long-term rights
Emirates Airline is one company taking advantage of Heathrow's advertising platforms. Following BA's decision to end its 16-year contract, the airline has secured the long-term rights to the Concorde roundabout, which is situated at the gateway to the airport.
Seen by passengers travelling by road to Terminals One, Two and Three, the spot is viewed by more than 25 million travellers each year, 83% of whom are affluent ABC1s.
Echoing France, Sally Emms, group account director of Aviator, Kinetic's new travel division, singles out Manchester airport, where digital screens have replaced traditional static posters, as being at the forefront of digital technology. She says: "The format can be changed day-in, day-out, which suits clients who want to produce the same type of imagery across a number of markets. Because the same messages and screen types are used, the messages are reinforced."
But advertisers are not just using the airport experience to reach consumers. Clear Channel Outdoor's Taxi Media division, which has a fleet of 12,000 taxis nationwide, handles campaigns featuring ads positioned on taxis that are likely to take passengers to and from airports. Clients, which have included EasyJet and Singapore Airlines, can book supersides, megasides, rear windows or special builds to target business travellers, frequent fliers and tourists.
Meanwhile, Heathrow Express, the high-speed link between London Paddington and Heathrow, has started using redundant space to capture the attention of people travelling to and from the airport, 67% of whom fall into the AB demographic.
The scheme is using what is billed as Europe's first-ever motion-picture video-wall advert: passengers see a series of illuminated images that turn into animated movies as the train whizzes along. Working like a child's flip-book, the system uses 450 frames, each of which holds a printed image. Microsoft and Intel are the first two brands to advertise.
Graeme Hay, commercial manager, says: "The Heathrow Express audience is one of the most exclusive ad profiles in the UK. Advertisers really want to reach these people: they are decision-makers and budget-holders who are not traditionally responsive to ad messages."
The next stage, going live in November, is for a digital format that will allow for a rotation of advertisers who can choose to target passengers either travelling to, or from, Heathrow. It is the latest innovation in a wider targeted "wow factor" approach that represents the future of advertising to Europe's air travellers.
SAMSUNG SCULPTURE BUILDS BRAND AWARENESS WITH HIGH FLIERS
Samsung's World in Your Hand phone sculpture has been installed in airports in 23 countries across the world, including London Heathrow, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Athens. There is a target to expand this to 32 countries by 2008.
In conjunction with JCDecaux and Korean agency Cheil Communications, the first sculpture was installed at Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris in 2002 and aimed to allow Samsung to expand its brand presence.
Samsung and Cheil chose to major on Europe because of the sheer volume of passenger numbers. Research at the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport showed that 77% of all travellers have a positive opinion of the message.
The second phase, featuring two different designs, sees hand sculptures up to 50 feet tall, featuring mobile screens with LED displaying information, video displays and messages.
Joseph Rhee, European marketing services director for Cheil Communications, says: "High-life seekers are our target audience; this group travels a lot, so airports are a great medium for us. We wanted to convey the message that with this product you can access the world."