Singapore Airlines swaps print for digital with in-flight magazine

Singapore Airlines wants to end its reliance on providing magazines for passengers by scrapping print editions in favour of streaming it through the in-flight entertainment system.

The airline’s trio of in-flight mags, main title SilverKris, sales catalogue KrisShop and KrisWorld, an inflight entertainment guide, will run through the existing SIA in-flight entertainment system as part of a trial with digital publishing technology firm SmarttPapers.

Officials claim the move will eventually have an impact on overall weight and fuel efficiency of the aircraft, although clearly the decision will also remove expensive printing costs.

The in-flight entertainment technology is a Panasonic eX2. The digital magazines will be added to the system across the SIA fleet starting with Boeing 777-300 aircraft this month. The airline’s two Airbus A380 will also feature the new mags over the coming months.

SIA says it hopes to extend the digital publishing to include 100 international and local magazines on the system in the second phase of the project. E-books and digital newspapers are also on the agenda.