January 28, 2025
Airlines and the retail media resistance: A tale of challenges and chance
It’s been six months since United Airlines announced the launch of Kinective Media, the first airline media network that “uses insights from travel behaviours to connect customers to personalised, real-time advertising, content, experiences and offers from leading brands”.
This modern media network will overhaul United Airlines’ comarketing and media partnerships. In the broader business world, Kinective Media is what is referred to as a retail media network. But in aviation circles this can be confusing, because it has nothing to do with what we would typically consider as ‘retail’.
Retail media has nothing to do with offer or order management, nor payment or delivery management. It’s a relative new term to airlines, so what does it mean?
According to the IAB Europe: Retail Media refers to the digital advertising space, retail data assets and in-store opportunities a retailer or marketplace owns, which is then made available to brands for the execution of advertising campaign.
In a nutshell, retail media refers to modern, data driven media partnerships. Kinective Media is an interesting case study because, whilst many industries have been eager to adopt new media technology and scale their digital marketing networks, aviation has not been one of them.
But with retail media ad spend reaching $154.8bn globally in 2024, a number expected to rise again this year by 14.8%, is 2025 the year airlines seize the media partnerships bull by the horns?
If it is, it will require some work. The industry’s resistance to retail media is not unfounded. Here are just a few of the common challenges airlines need to overcome.
1. Operational and structural challenges
Legacy systems are an obstacle for many businesses the world over, and airlines are no exception. Many airlines rely on aged tech for their reservation and customer management system. These legacy systems can make integrating with modern retail media platforms difficult whilst updating them can be expensive and disruptive.
Unlike traditional retailers, airlines manage complex logistics involving safety, regulations, and real-time operational constraints. The complexity of the core business operations therefore takes precedence over marketing initiatives.
Resources and teams that work on marketing and advertising often do so in isolation. Processes are fragmented and often manual. When partners do invest in airline partner marketing, it is increasingly difficult to provide meaningful metrics to demonstrate ROAS.
2. Technological hurdles
Airlines generate vast amounts of customer data—from bookings and loyalty programs to onboard services. However, much of this data is scattered across disconnected systems, creating silos that make it difficult to use effectively for marketing or personalization.
Unique to the airline industry, the in-flight environment also poses a challenge for real-time advertising and connected TV due to the bandwidth and connectivity limitations.
3. Customer Experience & Compliance
Global privacy regulations and using customer data for advertising becomes more complicated when passengers are travelling internationally. Simply understanding the implications of passenger privacy on a global scale can be overwhelming
As well as GDPR and CCPA, airlines would need to ensure any ads served on a modern media partner network comply with multiple regulatory and cultural standards across numerous regions.
4. Economic concerns
Airlines operate on notoriously thin margins. This commercial model, combined with the intense regulations means that risk aversion is totally understandable. In-flight magazines ceased to be a meaningful revenue stream when covid hit. The turbulence of a global pandemic, volatile fuel prices, and other geopolitical events and you’d be worried if someone was not questioning the economics of a new endeavour.
5. Strategic priorities
With strategic priorities across ticket sales, partnerships, and loyalty programs, retail media often does not garner enough focus from leadership. This is in part a result of not yet having any dedicated internal resources. With marketing and media teams working in siloes, many airlines do not have a strategic end-to-end media strategy. Whilst most airlines run comarketing activity, with retail media being a comparatively new practice, it is rare to have an internal dedicated resource with the experience and seniority required to drive change. Where airlines do sell media space to partners, it is often executed locally, or in a combination of locally and globally and requiring input from multiple teams. More often than not, it is no one’s priority, but a lot of people’s tasks.
6. Shifting from post-booking monetisation
Traditionally, airlines have offered post-booking media opportunities such as ads in magazines, boarding passes, or inflight entertainment. These are typically monetised by third-party brands and sold through external media agencies. However, this approach often lacks alignment with the customer experience—think of ads for medical treatments abroad that feel disconnected from the traveler’s journey. As a result, airlines tend not to view these offerings as part of the broader and rapidly growing "retail media" category.
Challenges aren’t obstacles, you can work around them
Whilst the list of challenges is moderately lengthy, it is far from insurmountable. Probably the most important thing to note upfront is that change doesn’t happen overnight. Building a successful retail media network on a global scale is an iterative process and best executed in strategically planned phases. This way, each challenge can be tackled in a direct and targeted way.
Secondly, not all the challenges outlined here are unique to airlines. Other travel organisations, especially OTAs, have successfully developed retail media networks across multiple regions. Issues around data and privacy have already been solved. You just need to enlist help from people who know the answers.
Airlines have an untapped potential to reimagine their media offerings by adopting strategies successfully used by OTAs and tour operators. These players profit from retail media at the pre-booking stage by partnering with tourism boards, promoting ancillaries, and selling hotel or tour packages. Airlines could create a unified media ecosystem by combining pre-booking retail media opportunities with post-booking and inflight touchpoints.
This approach would unlock highly relevant advertising opportunities at every stage of the traveler’s journey, from planning to departure and inflight. By doing so, airlines could transform these media opportunities from a "nice to have" into a multimillion-dollar revenue stream and a core component of their retail strategy.
As for integrating new platforms with legacy tech, whilst it can be tricky it is far from impossible. A good retail media technology provider will create a tailored onboarding plan to ensure you set yourself up for success. Once again, a slow, steady, and staggered approach is more likely to lead to success.
The chance to build a profitable new revenue stream still exists
Despite the challenges, there is growing interest in retail media networks among airlines. Innovative, modern partner marketing networks represent a game-changing opportunity for airlines to diversify revenue streams, enhance customer experiences, and stay competitive in an increasingly data-driven world.
To successfully embrace retail media, airlines need to shift their focus from post-booking monetisation opportunities to pre-booking opportunities. By leveraging their wealth of customer insights and touchpoints—such as loyalty programs, apps, and in-flight services—airlines are uniquely positioned to deliver personalised, high-impact advertising that rivals other industries.
The path forward requires commitment: overcoming legacy systems, breaking down silos, and addressing privacy concerns will not be simple. But these challenges are far from insurmountable, as demonstrated by the success of other travel brands and OTAs that have embraced retail media solutions.
In an industry notorious for razor-thin margins, ignoring this opportunity could mean missing out on a scalable and profitable revenue stream. Retail media is more than a "nice-to-have", it’s a strategic priority waiting to be unlocked. Airlines should act now by investing in technology, building a connected commerce ecosystem, and most importantly, assigning ownership to drive this transformation.
So, will 2025 be the year airlines finally take flight in retail media?
Are you looking to grow your travel retail media network? Platform 195 is a retail media solutions and intelligent marketing agency powered by data creativity, and marketing technology. Born from the travel industry, our team knows what works and why. We use this expertise, along with data and our own curiosity, to identify opportunities for growth and create powerful partnerships that generate measurable impact.
Ready to Uplift your media network? Contact the team at Platform 195 today hello@platform195.com.
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