British Airways has launched a new trial giving customers access to over 7,000 digital magazines and newspapers in the carrier’s lounges and inflight.
The trial, which will run into the new year, see BA partner with PressReader to offer passengers free access to publications spanning 156 countries and 63 languages.
The service is available to all customers travelling on a BA flight who have booked through ba.com, as well as to guests in selected BA lounges.
Customers will be sent an email 24 hours before their outbound flight, which they should click on using the device they would like to access the publications. They will then be prompted to download the PressReader app, and will be given authorisation to download publications for a 72-hour period.
Guests visiting participating BA lounges just need to download the app and connect to wifi, to be given access during their stay in the lounge.
Any publications downloaded on to a user’s device will stay on their indefinitely. BA says that the trial will be used “to gauge customer appetite for the offering.”
Commenting on the news Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ Director of Brand and Customer Experience, said:
“In the digital age, customers consume news and entertainment in a variety of different ways, so we hope this trial will help us to further understand our customers’ needs. It’s a really exciting offering, with 7,000 titles spanning 156 countries and 63 languages.”
Other carriers have launched similar services, including Finnair, which earlier this year announced plans to stop distributing print newspapers on long-haul flights, in favour of digital access to over 50 international newspapers via its Nordic Sky portal.
