By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

DATE Eindhoven Airport, the Netherlands’ second-largest airport, has embraced social media technology in a novel way by offering a select number of its Facebook fans several perks when they fly via the airport.

Anyone who likes Eindhoven Airport’s Facebook page and is due to fly from it can sign up to its ‘VIP’ scheme, and two fans are selected each month from the pool of entrants. The ‘VIP fans’ can then enjoy the benefits of one free airport meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner – flight-time dependent), fast-track security screening, personal accompaniment and free parking at a designated Facebook-marked spot in a prime location near the terminal entrance point.

The Eindhoven Airport Facebook VIP programme sign-up process is straightforward. Once the airport’s Facebook page has been ‘liked’, there’s a simple form to complete, requiring users to input their name, date of birth, email address, telephone number, the number of people travelling, the date of travel and the relevant flight number. Video of the program here.

Social media presence
In the past 7 months, Eindhoven Airport has added over 11,000 fans on Facebook and with the Facebook VIP scheme the airport wanted to do something in return for its online fans. Says Eindhoven Airport’s CEO, Joost Meijs, “Eindhoven Airport is working very hard on its online presence, with regularly the highest engagement rate on Facebook of all Dutch airports and the sixth position in the list of most popular check-in spots in the Netherlands. With a rapidly growing number of Facebook fans the time was right for us to offer our fans something extra.”

Adds Eli Lejeune, the airport’s marketing manager: “Through Facebook, people normally get money off or they are able to win tickets. But this VIP programme actually plugs into the actual customer journey. We couldn’t find any other airport in the world that does this. Facebook is an important way for us to stay in touch with our guests. Normally these passengers are in touch with airlines or booking agencies, since the actual deal is between them.”

Foursquare, Klout
Eindhoven Airport Facebook VIP initiative follows earlier efforts by airlines such as Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific. A few years ago, Air New Zealand rewarded foursquare users – who were the mayor of select airports and terminals served by the airline – with free admission to its lounges just by showing their mayorship status and boarding pass.

In May 2012, Cathay Pacific partnered with social rating tool Klout to offer anyone with a Klout score of 40 or higher free access to the airline’s lounge at San Francisco International Airport, even when they were not flying with Cathay that day.

A similar perk is currently offered by American Airlines, which grants people with a Klout score of 55 and higher free access to nearly 40 airport lounges worldwide.

DATE Airlines around the world are responding to the large number of passengers carrying smartphones, notebooks, tablets and e-readers by equipping seats with power ports and introducing onboard Wi-Fi and/or wireless inflight entertainment portals. Meanwhile, most airlines also still offer passengers paper newspapers and magazines in their lounges, boarding areas and on board, which is relatively costly and not too eco-friendly service.

In an effort to offer passengers a much wider variety of news, instead of the rather obligatory bunch of newspapers and magazines currently available, as well as to save on distribution costs, airlines such as Air France, airberlin, Virgin Australia and ANA have started to provide passengers with access to digital newspapers and magazines before their flight leaves. This allows airlines to save costs and offer passengers. Comments David Flynn, editor of Australian Business Traveller, “Being able to grab a digital copy of your favourite newspaper, especially ones from overseas, is a great pre-flight and even post-flight perk.”

An overview of the latest initiatives.

Air France ‘Press’
For some time, Air France has been offering a digital press service on iPads available for passengers to use in its lounges at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. The airline has now expanded this service and has launched a new ‘AF Press’ app that lets passengers download their preferred publications up to 24 hours before their flight until the time of departure to read them before, during and after their trip.

At the moment, there are 13 newspapers and 12 magazines available via the app and the offer will be gradually supplemented with French and international publications. Air France inflight magazines are available for download free of charge, with or without a flight reservation, by all ‘AF Press’ users.

As for now, all Air France ‘Travel Saver’ cardholders carrying an iPad or Android device are able to download a selection of magazines and newspapers onto their tablet free of charge. Later during 2013 the ‘AF Press’ service will become available to all passengers.

Air France Hop!
On a similar note, passengers on Air France’s new regional carrier, HOP! (which launched on March 31, 2013), have been able to download – on the day of their trip – the digital version of their local daily newspaper, as well as the local newspaper of another city of their choice. Sixty regional daily newspapers – with a total of 420 different editions – are available. Passengers who are travelling on more expensive ‘Maxi Flex’ tickets can use the service free of charge, while those with cheaper tickets have to pay a fee. At boarding, a selection of local newspapers is still be available in print for all passengers.

Gate area: airberlin
Since early 2012, airberlin has offered Silver and Gold members of its topbonus frequent flyer program free downloads of newspapers and magazines to their own devices while waiting at Berlin Tegel Airport’s ‘exclusive waiting areas’. The offer is free of charge and includes publications in German and English such as the Financial Times Deutschland or Frankfurter Allgemeine.

To provide the service, airberlin has partnered with a company called Media Carrier, whose Media Box ‘virtual library’ service is provided via the free Wi-Fi network in airberlin’s premium waiting areas. To save and read the newspapers and magazines passengers do not have to register for or install any software.

Airport lounge: Virgin Australia, ANA
Australian Business Traveller reports that members of Virgin Australia’s frequent flyr programme – and the rest of passengers with access to Virgin Australia’s lounges – recently got free access to 2,300 newspaper and magazine publications from 97 countries in 55 languages, as a result of a partnership between the Australian carrier and ‘same day news’ provider NewspaperDirect.

Newspapers and magazines can be downloaded to tablets or smartphones for free when done over Virgin’s airport lounge wi-fi network – as long as passenger have the PressReader app. NewspaperDirect usually charges AUD1 for each publication (or AUD 30 a month for unlimited access).

All Nippon Airways
On a related note, All Nippon Airlines (ANA) earlier this year began offering digital content to passengers in its domestic lounges at 14 airports across Japan. Passengers can connect their device to access digital content ranging from magazines to comics, information on Japanese culture and inside tips from ANA cabin crews. Most of the content can only be accessed inside the ANA lounge but select titles can be viewed outside the lounge as well.

Airport terminal: Peach
Japanese low-cost carrier Peach – which is partly owned by  ANA – is currently trialling a service that lets passengers download movies, TV shows, music, magazines, games and other content to their personal devices through the wi-fi network at Osaka Kansai Airport’s new budget terminal.

The service is called ‘high!’ entertainment and is available on domestic flights departing from Kansai. There are around 30 titles available during the initial trial period and the new service will be fully up and running in June 2013, when it will offer over 1,000 titles comprising free and pay-to-download content.

To access the ‘high!” inflight entertainment content, passengers will have to download an Apple iOS or Google Android app. Compatibility with Windows 8 is planned for a later date.

This article appears in the May edition of the Airline Marketing Benchmark, a monthly report by airlinetrends.com and Simpliflying, which identifies the latest innovative marketing capaigns recently launched by airlines around the world.

DATE One of the hardest marketing messages to convey is that you are current, and understand the market. ‘Silicon Valley favourite’ Virgin America is one of the best examples of this. Easy to recognize thanks to its iconic cabin lighting and hip and forward-looking approach to airline travel, Virgin America has firmly established itself as a favoured choice among the urban, tech savvy flying demographic. In fact, one of the airline’s aircraft is dubbed #nerdbird to celebrate the large number of Wi-Fi users travelling on the San Francisco-Boston route, thanks to their fleet-wide onboard wi-fi and USB and power outlets at every seat.

Recently more and more airlines are embracing their inner-geek to stay ahead of the trend-curve and cleverly selling themself as geek-chic.

#newAmerican x SXSW
American Airlines has pushed hard to shake off its old image, trying to prove that its new brand image is more than skin-deep. The airline organized a hack-a-thon at the annual SXSW event in Austin last March, allowing more than 60 developers to work with American’s travel API for the first time to see what they could come up with to further develop the users experience with the airline.

At the end of the event a total of 15 apps were created, based on over a total of 1800 man hours. The winning App entry was ‘AirPing’, which was a multi use tool for both airline and customer, providing live updates to flight changes and delays with estimate travel time to the airport.

The event also saw American launch a ‘Napkin Pitch Contest’, where travelers could pitch a business idea to the airline to make the world a better place, all on a simple airline napkin. Passengers could either complete a form online or drop their napkin into boxes located at the #newAmerican lounge at the Austin Convention Center and the Startup America Lounge at the Austin Hilton.

The latest venture for the carrier is to launch an investment fund for start up companies. The project is known internally as Blue Ocean, and the fund could invest money in entrepreneurs, startups and incubators, but it could also use its resources to fly entrepreneurs to investor meetings, or help them with awarding points, or in other non-monetary in-kind ways.

Delta x TED
Delta also turned more Star Trek than airline in February, showcasing its renewed focus on sleep at the annual TED conference in an innovative way. The airline hosted a talk from renowned Oxford neuroscientist and sleep expert Dr. Russell Foster addressing jet lag and how the eye tells time and demonstrate his research in action with a so-called ‘Photon Shower’ – a small light chamber that conference attendees could enter for a short period of time to help reset their body clocks through a personalized light treatment.

Delta has also teamed with TED to generate innovative crowd-sourced ideas to improve the travel experience, called ‘Ideas in Flight’. The program uses curated TEDTalks in social media as thought-starters to inspire their community, across technology, entertainment, design, etcetera. Ideas can be submitted through a dedicated tab on the Delta Facebook page, but passengers can also use the in-flight Wi-Fi for free to go to a dedicated ‘Ideas In Flight’ website which can only be accessed while onboard Delta transcontinental flights.

Alaska Airlines ‘Flight Quest’
Alaska Airlines have recently joined forces with General Electric to offer a USD100,000 prize to a winning Singapore team who have created a new algorythm for predicting airline arrival times and help reduce passenger delays. The second phase of the ‘Flight Quest’ initiative is to have statisticians suggest ways that airlines could use their data to actually adapt to changing circumstances during a flight.

British Airways ‘40,000ft Hackathon’
Last but not least, British Airways have now started championing technology advancements, and announced last month they were to hold a ‘Hackathon’ aboard one of their aircraft, travelling from future tech-home San Francisco to London. the airline invited 100 top innovators to an 11-hour self dubbed ‘UnGrounded’ hackathon. A number of high-profile founders, CEOs, and venture capitalists will all participate, with the aim of collaborating to create some solutions to global problems (video here).

The airline also joined up with RocketSpace recently, a startup accelerator based in San Francisco, to gain access to startups. The team will be asked to present their findings at the Decide Now Act (DNA) Summit workshop on arrival in London.

“Great innovation happens when you bring people together face to face, not when you have people sitting alone in rooms” explained EVP of British Airways Simon Talling-Smith.

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By Raymond Kollau (airlinetrends.com) & Shubhodeep Pal (SimpliFlying)

DATE Airline marketing is undergoing a phase that’s exceedingly exciting, unpredictable and creative. Faced with ever more experienced consumers, who routinely ignore the commercials and ads thrown at them, airline brands are finding new ways to break through the advertising clutter to reach and engage consumers.

Besides dreaming up experiental marketing and creative – traditional media-based – initiatives, airlines around the world are equipping themselves with the tools and know-how to conquer the digital marketing revolution, experimenting with new social media platforms and launching mobile campaigns that link the online with the offline world.

Airline Marketing Benchmark Report
In today’s fast-moving environment, it is important not just to be creative and innovative yourself but to be more striking than your immediate competition as well. However, given the speed at which things move in digital media, it is no easy task to stay on top of the latest trends, fads and innovations.

Over the last six months, SimpliFlying and airlinetrends.com have published a premium Airline Marketing Benchmark Report. Published monthly, the report contains a selection of 15 of the most innovative marketing and advertising campaigns launched by airlines around the world and assesses their impact.

Across the close to 100 innovative marketing initiatives that have been featured to date, we have identified EIGHT TRENDS that range from experiental to location-based, co-creation and social loyalty initiatives and which reflect the current state of airline marketing:

1. EXPERIENTAL
Faced with ever more experienced consumers, who routinely ignore the commercials and ads thrown at them, airlines are finding new ways to break through the advertising clutter and are turning to brand experiences in order to capture the imagination of today’s consumer.

2. SOCIAL CARE
Today’s traveler is always tuned in to his social networks via a mobile device while travelling. In times, when frustration with a product or service can be vented (and spread) in an instant, it is important for airlines to tackle the problem at the place where it occurs, building goodwill as well, since everyone can see the responses.

3. ON LOCATION
Brands want to reach customers where they are. Instead of pulling customers and users out of their comfort zones, airlines are increasingly “going to the customer”. And what better way to do this than to design initiatives based where you are located?

4. BACK TO REALITY
Airlines have woken up to the need to connect with “real” people. There is a growing focus on everyday people, away from stereotypes, supermodels, celebrities and professionally made pictures/videos and airlines are seeking user-generated content or for example feature airline staff that share their day-to-day life.

5. CROWDSOURCING
Airlines have used crowdsourcing as an effective means to a variety of ends such as product innovations, for a tablet application, loyalty tier rewards and for improving hand luggage respectively.

6. VIRAL VIDEOS
In today’s online arena, those brands that come up with a creative and compelling ‘traditional’ commercial will be rewarded for their creativity as their work will spread very fast around the world.

7. SOCIAL LOYALTY & GAMIFICATION
Airlines are tapping into location-based services to track loyalty in terms of repeat visits as well as social advocacy. By offering real-world rewards to fans and followers who promote their brand online, airlines add an element of gamification to their marketing.

8. MEME JACKING
An internet meme is a concept that spreads from person to person via the internet. It can be anything from an image to a video to a hashtag. The popularity of internet memes and their deep association with the “internet culture”, makes them an effective marketing tool for airlines to create buzz around their brands.

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

DATE Virgin America’s in-flight entertainment and communications (IFEC) platform, known as Red, may very well be the world’s most feature-rich IFEC system. For example, the high-definition touch screens on each seatback feature live satellite television, the first ever seatback digital shopping platform, an open tab service, and interactive Google Maps with terrain view that tracks the flight’s location. Passengers can also use the system to chat with other passengers, play 3D games such as Doom, offset carbon emissions for their flight, or purchase snacks, meals, and beverages from their seats via Red. Flight attendants receive the orders via a tablet device and bring the ordered items to the seat.

Seat-to-seat delivery
The latest innovative feature Virgin America has added to the Red platform is a ‘seat-to-seat’ delivery service (images here and here), which lets passengers use their seatback touch-screen to send a cocktail, snack or meal to a fellow traveler onboard their flight using a digital seat map. Similar to the ‘open tab’ function on Red (passengers only have to swipe their credit card once per flight to make purchases), this is a smart way to increase the onboard sales by adding an element of fun to the experience.

“Get Lucky”
In true Virgin style, the airline is playing the flirting card to promote its new seat-to-seat delivery service, encouraging passengers to “send an in-flight cocktail to that friendly stranger in seat 4A – and then follow up with a text message using the seat-to-seat chat function also on Red.”

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson also helped introduce the new seat-to-seat feature with a tongue in cheek video called “Sir Richard Branson’s Guide to Getting Lucky at 35,000 Feet.”

As part of the launch of the new feature, Virgin America is kicking off a Facebook promotion inviting users to share how they are using or would use the new ‘seat-to-seat’ feature – including their best in-flight pick-up lines. Social media submissions are being collected from April 22nd through May 22nd. The top five entries will be voted on by Virgin America fans with the top two entries scoring a trip with Virgin America to Las Vegas, which is the airline’s latest destination. For inspiration, see these hilarious “airplane seat-to-seat chat pickup lines” published by Virgin America a few months ago.

By Nikos Loukas, InflightFeed

DATE Latvia-based low-cost carrier airBaltic is known for churning out attention-grabbing innovations. Along with differentiating its Business Class by serving passengers a 3-course meal based on organic, seasonal products from local Latvian farmers, freshly brewed Nespresso coffee, airBaltic has come up with a host of innovative ancillary products, a taxi and bike-sharing operation, and the airline has been one of the first to launch a ‘social seating’ service.

Mix ‘n match
To help increase revenues for their buy-on-board program, airBaltic’s latest ancillary initiative is a novel food ordering system that allows customers to customize their in-flight meal when they book their seat. During the pre-order process passengers can choose from a range of meal options, as well as drinks and desserts, and virtually ‘drag and drop’ their preferred meal items onto a digital airline tray, with their chosen meal served to them during the flight. The service is expected to be up and running in May.

Passengers can choose from a variety of 20 pre order meal options, including fish souvlaki, teriyaki salmon, grilled pork or chicken breast, served with one of three salads and one of three types of bread. Hot meals are priced from EUR 7 to 12, salads from EUR 5 to 8, while bread costs EUR 1.

And as consumers become more conscious of what they are eating, each menu items offers nutritional information allowing passengers to make an informed inflight meal decision.

AirBaltic’s customized meal ordering system is provided in conjunction with LSG SkyChefs, whose facility at Riga Airport produces approximately 4,500 meals a day and who guarantees each passenger will see his or her customized meal delivered on board – if ordered at least 24 hours prior to departure.

Says Janis Vanags, airBaltic’s VP Corporate Communications, “We thought it would be fun and interesting for passengers to select exactly what they would like to eat before their flight.”

By Debbie Pappyn, Classe Touriste

DATE If you like the life jacket the flight attending is showing during her emergency presentation, you might want to check out Air France’s new cooperation with the French upcycle brand bilum. Both brands are presenting a collection of travel cases made from recycled life jackets and old advertising posters that were on display at Paris Orly airport in spring 2012.

As all life jackets have a limited lifespan, Air France has asked bilum to give them a new life, rather than destroying them. This partnership fits into Air France’s philosophy to reduce its environmental impact and to give something back to certain communities.

The first collection of 400 cases made from life jackets were launched in December 2012 and are available for sale online at Air France and Bilum at a price of 19 euros for the flat case and 24 euros including tax for the padded case.

For the moment you can still buy bags and ticket wallets made from the giant Air France canvas posters dating from summer 2012. The posters show a girl lying in the green grass on a bed of flowers in the shape of an airplane. Prices range from 69 euro to 285 euro for a bag.

All cases from bilum are manufactured in France by people with disabilities as part of a work insertion scheme by the E.S.A.T., a French organisation that aims to integrate people with disabilities into the mainstream labour market. They are hand-cut from a piece of the jacket or poster and the fabric is not changed in any way, so that each case is unique. No two items are the same.

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

DATE Airline marketing is undergoing a phase that’s exceedingly exciting, unpredictable and creative. Faced with ever more experienced consumers, who routinely ignore the commercials and ads thrown at them, airline brands are finding new ways to break through the advertising clutter to reach and engage consumers.

Surprise
We have seen airlines such as Virgin America, Delta, Brussels Airlines, SAS and airBaltic use the luggage belts in the baggage claim area to surprise passengers with free gifts to celebrate Christmas, Easter or Valentine’s Day, while LAN has surprised patrons of restaurants in the US with a free ticket.

Effective airline marketing today employs a hybrid model. The pervasiveness of Internet and social media users almost necessitates the adoption of marketing tactics that involve both the online and offline spaces. Even when the real initiative happens offline, airlines, more often than not, depend on their online audience to spread the buzz. For example, combining social media with real-world interactions, KLM a few years ago created a ‘Surprise Team’  at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport that randomly surprises passengers that have checked-in at KLM venues on Foursquare with ‘little acts of kindness.’

Virgin Atlantic ‘#FITFOO’
Recently, Virgin Atlantic started it’s new advertising campaign, and similar to British Airways’s ‘To Fly. To Serve.’ campaign, the strapline ‘Flying in the Face of Ordinary’ is less of an advertising slogan, and more of a company philosophy. Virgin Atlantic have now taken this to the next level to prove it’s not just a saying, but a belief.

In March, the airline took to the streets of Boston to brighten up an otherwise grey and rainy day. Scouring social networking site Twitter, Virgin Atlantic hunted for @VAAintheUSA followers to provide them some one-on-one attention to  add a splash of colour to their lives. A team of Virgin Atlantic cabin crew in a bright red Mini Cooper visited Bostonians in need. Some people received cupcakes, one a bright red poncho to keep the rain away, and others had anything from a pair of hunter wellington boots to bright red scarves and mittens, and even brought a packed lunch to one worker in a furniture showroom.

The campaign started in Washington D.C. on March 11, before heading to Boston on March 19, and Virgin Atlantic have also recently taken to the streets in New York. The direction Virgin Atlantic has taken, focussing on personal attention, whilst limited in its audience interaction, has a much higher impact than most other marketing campaigns.

For example, one blogger, who experienced the campaign first hand, receiving 100 cupcakes for himself and his work team said “If the goal of this program was to make an impression with the culture of Virgin Atlantic and make people want to fly with them, it has certainly worked. You will never find me paying a lot more to fly with a certain airline, but if it is a matter of a couple of dollars, I will definitely choose Virgin Atlantic for my future travels.”

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

DATE Airlines around the world are responding to the explosion in passenger use of smartphones, notebooks, tablets and e-readers by introducing onboard Wi-Fi and/or wireless inflight entertainment systems. The result is the emergence of an alternative eco-system to today’s traditional seatback-based IFE systems, which sees tech-savvy passengers bring their own digital devices – or airlines providing them with tablets.

However, the idea behind new IFE offerings such as wireless IFE remains the same. That is passengers are able to access entertainment content only when up in the air (although passengers who purchased movies and TV shows through wireless IFE providers such as Gogo Connect and Lufthansa’s BoardConnect can continue to view the content when they have landed – for 24 (movies) and 72 hours (TV shows) respectively.

Airport downloads
Airport News Japan now reports that Japanese low-cost carrier Peach, a joint venture between All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group, has come up with another innovative twist on in-flight entertainment.

With support from Osaka’s Kansai International Airport, Peach passengers will soon be able to download movies, TV shows, music, magazines, games or other content to their personal devices through the airport terminal’s Wi-Fi network, which they can enjoy without limitation while in the airport or on their flight.

The service is called ‘high!’ entertainment and is available on domestic flights departing from Kansai Airport’s Terminal 2, which has been specially build to accommodate low-cost carriers.

There will be around 30 titles available during the initial trial period and the new service will be fully up and running in June, when it will offer over 1,000 titles comprising free and pay-to-download content. To access the ‘high!” inflight entertainment content, passengers have to download an Apple iOS or Google Android app (pending for approval at the moment). Compatibility with Windows 8 is planned for a later date.

Peach started operations in March 2012 and currently operates 22 daily flights with seven A320 aircraft to eight destinations (5 domestic, plus Seoul, Taipei and Hong Kong).

Air France HOP!
Peach is not the first airline to offer passengers the option to download content to their devices before they board. Passengers on Air France’s new regional carrier HOP!, which will start operations on March 31, will be able to download, on the day of their trip, the digital version of their usual daily newspaper, as well as the local edition of their destination or another city of their choice. 60 regional daily newspapers, a total of 420 different editions, will be available before, during and after their flight, regardless of their departure airport, on all types of digital tablet.

Passengers who are travelling on more expensive ‘Maxi Flex’ tickets can use the service free of charge, while those with cheaper tickets will have to pay a fee. Furthermore, at boarding, a selection of local newspapers will still be available in print for all passengers.

All Nippon Airways
On a related note, Peach’s parent company ANA has just began offering digital content to passengers in its lounges at 14 airports across Japan. Passengers in each of ANA’s domestic airport lounges can connect their computer, smartphone, tablet or other device to access digital content primarily consisting of magazines and news. Airport News Japan reports there are 58 types of content ranging from magazines to comics, information on Japanese culture and inside info from ANA cabin crews. Most of the content can only be viewed inside the ANA lounge but select titles can be viewed outside the lounge as well.

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

DATE KLM is known for its embrace of digital technology. The airline is a leader in social media and in the past years has launched a series of specific mobile apps, such as a ‘Passport’ app, which lets users record their journeys with their mobile phone and share their experiences via Facebook.

Real-time feedback
KLM’s latest mobile app allows the airline’s passengers to give real-time feedback on how they perceived their experience at the airport (e.g, check-in, lounge, boarding, arrival).

The option to provide direct feedback about the quality of service at airports isn’t entirely new. Singapore Changi, for example, has installed an instant feedback system that lets airport users rate service on the spot. The airport uses the real-time feedback to address issues immediately and to reward employees for good service. Travellers at Phoenix International Airport, meanwhile, can rate the cleanliness of the toilets by scanning a QR code.

KLM’s Feedback app, however, marks the first such initiative by an airline. According to the carrier, the objective of the Feedback app is to increase passenger involvement during the ground stage of their journey in order to improve the passenger experience at the airport.

How it works
After downloading the app, which is available for both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, passengers first choose the airport they are currently at (13 airports are supported at the moment: Amsterdam, Accra, Almaty, Athens, Cape Town, Curacao, Geneva, Jakarta, Kuwait, Singapore, Tokyo, Toronto and Vancouver) and then choose the area (check-in, lounge, boarding, arrival) and sub-area they want to rate.

The rating consists of simply tapping a ‘Thumps Up’ or ‘Thumbs Down’ button, but passengers can also specify their rating with a comment. Interestingly, the app also allows for the feedback to be published on Twitter at the same moment. Pasengers can rate each sub-area once a day and can also view how other passengers rated this area within the last 24 hours.

KLM team leads and station management at participating airports have been equipped with iPads that enables them to monitor the feedback in real-time, so they can react on passenger feedback immediately if needed and possible.

Says Gerard-Pieter de Haas, Director CRM at KLM, “Our staff is very excited about the feedback app as it helps them to take immediately corrective action and recover the required service levels for each touch point. Moreover, we can capture this experience and relay to other touch points – like Check-in, Lounge, Transfer or even Inflight – so staff can take immediate action if needed. This fully fits our CRM-vision of ‘connecting the dots’ and really puts the customer in the center of our attention.”

Next: inflight feedback
KLM says that the current version of the Feedback app has been built only for the passenger experience on the ground. However, based on the pilot results, Inflight Services may be added as an area in the app as well, so passengers will also be able to share their onboard experience. After a pilot last year, the airline will also begin equipping its pursors with iPads next month. And, as KLM is about to start an inflight wi-fi trial, in the near future feedback from passengers on their KLM onboard experience may be real-time as well.

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

DATE While the metrosexual trend, featuring David Beckam as its icon, has been coined by Marian Salzman almost a decade ago and has been declared passé many times before, the South Koreans are having none of it. Being one of the most competitive and beauty-conscious countries in the world (plastic surgery is common practice), South Korea is also one of the most ‘attractive’ markets for male cosmetics, with make up for men being the latest craze.

According to Euromonitor, South Korea is the biggest market for male grooming products, accounting for 18 percent of the world’s male cosmetic market in 2011. Eyeliner and so-called BB cream (a foundation like tinted cream that is primer, protector, concealer and skin regulator all in one) are considered perfectly acceptable for male celebrities and for an increasing number of ordinary men.

Male grooming
CNN now reports that South Korea’s flag carrier, Korean Air, has also gotten onto the male cosmetics bandwagon. Last month, 74 new male recruits gathered at the Korean Air flight attendant training center in Seoul to learn all about skin care, makeup and grooming.

The so-called “image making for service men” made sure all the new staff were well versed in the application of sunscreen (to protect skin from premature aging), skin care (to ensure smooth, clean and blemish free faces) and the correct application of BB cream. In the past, Korean Air’s makeup classes have been available only for its female staff, and this marked the first time its male staff received such lessons.

The airline brought in makeup professionals for the occasion, which was geared towards the airline’s new ground staff. Flight attendants did not receive the makeup training. “We plan on continuing the image-enhancing education, including basic makeup training, in the future,” said Korean Air public relations representative Hyun-mook Cho.

Female Flyers
Overall, Korean Air seems to be sensitive to the specific needs of the genders. The airline’s Prestige Lounge at Incheon Airport features a dedicated area for female travellers, which includes a restroom, sleeping room and powder room. Korean Air is also one of the few airlines in the world to dedicate bathrooms onboard its aircraft for use by female passengers only. The airline’s ‘ladies-only’ lavatory is decorated with pink coloured wallpapers, has a diaper board for babies and provides extra cosmetics.

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

DATE In an effort to boost ridership on its high-speed rail system, French national rail operator SNCF has launched the world’s first low cost high speed rail travel. Called Ouigo (as in “We Go”),  the new cheap, no-frills train service for France will offer ticket prices from just EUR 10, significantly cheaper than tickets for the normal TGV train.

Ouigo is an independently run subsidiary of SNCF and will operate its own trains, modified double-decker TGV Duplex trains, the same trains as SNCF’s regular TGV service. The new service will start running between the outskirts of Paris and the south of France (Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier) in April this year. Three or four return journeys will operate every day.

Low-cost carriers
To allow for such cheap fares, Ouigo shares similarities to no-frills carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet. Trains depart from Marne-la-Vallée (where Euro Disney is located) to the east of the French capital – almost 20 miles away from central Paris, a scenario reminiscent of the budget airlines’ strategy to use airports away from city centres. Ouigo trains will have no premium section, no food or drink service and less free leg space in order to accommodate 1,200 passengers, 20 percent more than a normal TGV service. Tickets can only be bought on-line, not from ticket machines or ticket counters.

It also means adding fees. Passengers can bring only one small bag (about the size of an airplane carry-on) and a purse or backpack. If a traveler waits until boarding time to pay for an extra bag, there’s a EUR40 charge. If done ahead of time, the cost is only EUR5. Seating in a car with outlets costs an extra EUR2; getting information about a reservation via the phone requires another EUR1. Reservations can be changed for EUR10 (EUR20 if done on the phone), but not fully reimbursed.

Each year 400,000 seats will go on sale at just EUR10 with a further one million costing just EUR25. Prices will rise depending on demand until they reach a maximum price of EUR85.

According to calculations published in French newspaper Le Figaro, the average price for a Friday journey from Paris to Marseille booked three months in advance costs EUR72 on the TGV, EUR50 on Air France, EUR34 on Ryanair, and EUR25 on Ouigo.

Cars
Guillaume Pepy, the director of the SNCF, however says the new rail service is mostly aimed at the 4 million people living on the outskirts of Paris, who are more likely to take their car on long journeys but face France’s expensive road tolls and high gas prices. However Ouigo may also be considered by travellers on a budget, as it is just an EUR7.30 trip from the city center on the RER, Paris’ commuter rail system.

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

DATE Delta Business Class customers will soon be able to have a more comfortable sleep as the airline has teamed up with Westin Hotels to create an in-flight version of Westin Hotel’s ‘Heavenly Bed’ pillows and comforters.

Dubbed ‘Westin Heavenly In-Flight Bedding’, the branded amenities will be available from June on for passengers on US transcontinental routes and between Atlanta and Hawaii. Passengers on flights longer than 12 hours also will receive a lumbar pillow. A few years ago, the hotel group had a similar agreement for a brief period with United Airlines on transcontinental routes in the U.S.

Says Joanne Smith, Delta’s SVP In Flight Service, “In recent surveys, customers have told us that the most important part of the in-flight experience is sleep. The new Westin Heavenly In-Flight bedding product is just one of the new amenities Delta is introducing to ensure customers achieve a restful, rejuvenating in-flight experience.”

The Delta x Westin tie-up is part of a series of investments in several other products and services to revamp the in-flight sleep experience. By the end of 2013, 70 percent of all Delta aircraft will have flat beds and by  early 2014, Delta’s entire widebody fleet is scheduled to be complete.

To create a more restful cabin environment, flight attendants also are now proactively adjusting for appropriate lighting based on the time of day and streamlining cabin announcements to decrease noise disruptions. Delta has also introduced an ‘Express Meal’ service that features lighter fare and a one-step delivery process on all international flights departing after 9 p.m. and flights between JFK and London’s Heathrow Airport, and will add a so-called ‘white noise’ channel on its IFE system. Delta declined to say how much money it was putting into the new sleep strategy, describing it as a “substantial investment, in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” which would also cover the installation of flat-bed seats.

Beyond full-flat seats
As full-flat beds have now become the industry standard in Business Class – allowing passengers to stretch out and sleep in a more comfortable way – airlines are looking for ways to differentiate the passenger experience by coming up with additional services that improve the chance that passengers are having a good night of sleep onboard (for more on this topic see our article in Onboard Hospitality Magazine, “Sweet Dreams”).

Says Peter J. Bates, president of Strategic Vision in the New York Times, “As airlines consolidate into smaller groups, they are continuously trying to find ways to gain market share and differentiate their product. This goes in phases. Now that the airlines have gone through the flat-bed phase, they have to create more bells and whistles to differentiate themselves.”

Adds Tim Mapes, Delta’s SVP Marketing, “The airline that comes to represent a good night’s sleep in the minds of customers will be the airline that attracts a disproportionately large share of customers.”

Experiental marketing
Delta showcased its renewed focus on sleep at the annual TED conference at the end of February in an innovative way. The airline hosted a talk from renowned Oxford neuroscientist and sleep expert Dr. Russell Foster addressing jet lag and how the eye tells time and demonstrate his research in action with a so-called ‘Photon Shower’ – a small light chamber that conference attendees could enter for a short period of time to help reset their body clocks through a personalized light treatment. According to Delta, the Photon Shower was designed to illustrate – in a fun and creative way – how serious the airline is about ensuring its passengers can sleep on its planes while they are en route to their destinations.

The Photon Shower, along with Delta’s new amenity kits, charging stations and a juice bar, were located in Delta’s ‘Power Up’ lounge, a space designed to help revitalize and energize TED attendees. Conference goers could also relax and wind down in Delta’s ‘Power Down’ lounge, a second ‘brand space’ featuring flat-bed seats with Westin Heavenly In-Flight bedding, nap pods, and white noise calming music. Delta also installed a ‘Sleep Bar’ at the Westin Long Beach to promote its new inflight amenities partnership with Westin Hotels.

Tryvertising
Delta’s partnership with Westin is also a good example of the ‘tryvertising’ trend (coined by trendwatching.com and featured several times before on airlinetrends.com). With the ‘Westin Heavenly In-Flight Bedding’, Delta can offer passengers a quality product, while for Westin the partnership is a smart way to let Delta passengers try its ‘Heavenly’ line of sleeping products.

On a similar note, Delta in early 2012 introduced a premium service in partnership with German automaker Porsche at its Atlanta hub for its highest-tier Diamond Medallion customers. Selected arriving passengers are escorted from the plane to a waiting Porsche luxury vehicle for a ride to their cars in the parking lot or another terminal for a connecting flight. Porsche has provided the vehicles to Delta free of charge, but has placed information about the car models in the vehicles and in Delta Sky Lounges at the airport. Delta has also partnered with liquor brand Diageo to install ‘The Luxury Bar’ at its airport lounges in the US.

By Debbie Pappyn, Classe Touriste

DATE From serving real espresso and ristrettos in the sky to the new trend of enjoying tea on board that doesn’t taste like sewage water.

Take for example British Airways who serves 35 million cups a year and strives to have the best traditional British “cuppa in the air”. Recently British Airways and UK tea brand Twinings are transforming tea in the air with an innovative new blend of the nation’s favourite drink, specifically designed to work at altitude. The British Airways signature blend tea will take to the skies from February 1, 2013 for customers in all cabins.

With research to prove that taste can be reduced by up to 30 per cent at 35,000 feet, the airline commissioned Twinings to come up with a teabag that would taste as good in the sky as it does on the ground.

The airline conducted tastings on the ground and in the air with a panel of 19 customers, cabin crew and experts including Twinings senior buyer Mike Wright who said: “Water on board an aircraft boils at around 89 degrees centigrade, not the ideal 100 degrees for making black tea.  The reduced air pressure and humidity affect the functioning of the tastebuds, making things taste different. In addition to this, it was important that the new blend worked well with and without milk. The new British Airways blend is perfectly balanced to create great-tasting tea at 35,000 feet.”

According to BA, the new tea is a blend of Assam, Kenyan and high grown Ceylon tea: a classic combination giving body, strength, flavour and colour. A bias towards the Assam produces a well-rounded, full-bodied blend, while the Kenyan gives it strength and lift and the Ceylon adds flavour. The tea has been specially created for British Airways in three-pint bags to enable cabin crew to serve the new blend straight from the pot.

BA’s decision to introduce a stronger-blend tea onboard is part of a larger initiative by the airline, called ‘Height Cuisine’, which aims to show the effort BA puts in preparing food for consumption at high altitude. The airline also offers an Afternoon Tea inspired by the Dorchester to its First passengers on selected flights.

Singapore Airlines
British Airways is not the first to offer special teas on board airplanes. Since 2009, Singapore Airlines launched the ‘Singapore Breakfast’ blend from premium tea purveyor TWG, one of the most well-established tea brands in Singapore. In business, first and in their lounges, Singapore Airlines serves this breakfast blend plus an assortment with flavors. The airline has also just introduced an English Tea service on its flights between Singapore and London, which includes the No.16 Afternoon Tea and No.42 Earl Grey tea blends from Harrods.

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

DATE To promote its London to LA route, as well as its innovative Skycouch seat, Air New Zealand UK has launched a Valentine’s Day campaign which uses its own flights to pair two strangers together on a blind date. Named ‘Blind Gate’, the campaign invites those looking for new love to sign up for a chance to compete in a blind date contest, with two lucky couples flying from London to Los Angeles on ANZ.

The airline is collaborating with UK newspaper The Guardian, who had those interested in the contest sign up on the weekly ‘Blind Date’ section of its website. On Valentine’s Day, ten shortlisted contestants will gather at a specially built TV studio at Heathrow’s T1 to take part in the blind-date contest.

This contest consists of questions that promote elements of Air New Zealand’s in-flight experience, for example contestants will be asked what drinks they might order or what movies they might watch on their journey.

Each contestant has to bring a passport and a packed suitcase, and the two lucky couples chosen – one gay and one straight – will board an ANZ flight to LA as soon as the winners are announced. The couples will be seated on Air New Zealand’s Skycouch, a row of economy seats that folds into a 2-person couch, and which is also known as “cuddle class.”

To see how they get on, a camera crew from the Guardian will also document and follow the couples’ holiday to LA, including coverage of the flight on the Skycouch, for a five-episode series on the campaign website and for a feature in The Guardian’s Weekend edition.

ANZ’s “Blind Gate” initiative is not the airline’s first forray into inflight matchmaking. In 2009 the airline declaring that one of its regularly scheduled 12-hour overnight flights from Los Angeles to Auckland would be transformed into a special Matchmaking Flight, complete with its own social media networking site, pre-flight airport party, in-flight hijinks and a ticket to a gala post-flight mixer attended by 150 single Kiwis.

For more innovative airline marketing campaigns check airlinetrends.com’s monthly “Airline Marketing Benchmark Report” which is produced in cooperation with airline brand consultants SimpliFlying.