Sky-high Wi-fi club prepares for liftoff

On-board Wi-fi plus a captive audience equals advertising revenue. It's a formula that airlines hope will turn what has always been a cost centre - their in-flight entertainment systems - into a profit generator.

More airlines in Asia plan to install wireless systems on aircraft that will be able to broadcast commercials in addition to entertainment such as music and movies.

'In the next 10 years, around half, if not more, of the new aircraft in [the] Asia-Pacific will be equipped with Wi-fi connection,' said Michael Reilly, chief operating officer at Stellar Entertainment, a Sydney-based provider of content and technical solutions for in-flight entertainment, which is outfitting the wireless platform for Virgin Atlantic.

An estimated 20,000 new aircraft will be delivered in the region in the next 20 years, according to projections by aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus. And an aircraft cabin is considered to be a near-perfect avenue for advertisers because lots of affluent passengers are locked up for several hours during a flight.

But the exisiting on-board technology doesn't allow for timely in-flight advertisements. It is a lengthy process to convert a commercial that can run on the current back-of-the-chair monitors, so most of the ads available on-board now are limited to brand advertising for such international names as camera maker Nikon, jeweller Cartier, cosmetics producer Lancome and Shangri-La Hotels.

Marketing content had to be ready 30 days in advance so there was time 'to format it and make it compatible with the system', Reilly said. Given the time needed to produce the ad in the first place, it translated into 60 to 90 days' lead time, he said.