Free Newspapers at Airports - Gone for Good ?

[Butts]

I thought it may have been an oversight when I was last at Edinburgh Airport a couple of weeks ago, but I returned today to find the Free Newspapers (Times, FT, Sun) have disappeared from Edinburgh Airport.

The holders are still there but barren !!

BA Lounge no longer does free copies either.

Are there any Airports that still provide them ? (Not free metros proper normally paid for publications)

 

[SeanG]

I picked up a copy of l'equipe at Newcastle before a flight to Paris the other year. In all honesty, in the age of apps where basically the whole paper can be downloaded to read offline, it does seem an unnecessary expense (and time to clear them up)

 

[Bletchleyite]

I picked up a copy of l'equipe at Newcastle before a flight to Paris the other year. In all honesty, in the age of apps where basically the whole paper can be downloaded to read offline, it does seem an unnecessary expense (and time to clear them up)

I was going to say that. Go to a business lounge and look for the number of people who don't have a laptop, a tablet or a decent mobile phone on which to read the news.

I predict the answer will always be 0.

 

[Brooke]

I’ve seen a couple in the last weeks:

Heathrow has a great selection at T2B, in the main concourse. Boarding a flight to Toronto I was surprised to be able to pick up FT, Business Traveller and GQ for free.

Gatwick still has a few free tabloids in the North Terminal. Probably you need to be there early in the day though - they don’t seem to have many.

I think BA don’t have any in their lounges anymore? I was in T5 lounge last week and don’t think I saw anything.

 

[jon0844]

I wonder how this will affect advertising? For a long time, many newspapers and magazines purposely gave away free papers/mags to not only boost the circulation, but also to charger higher rates on the basis that they could say the readers were of a particular demographic. Hence, copies at airports/lounges, hotels and other prestigious locations.

Some lifestyle magazines for women were often sold at a loss (through paying WHSmith and others exceptional fees to place the magazines in prominent positions) to, again, boost the ad revenue significantly.

If complimentary copies go, that - to me - doesn't bode well for the future, given readerships are already way down (and it's very hard to replicate the income online, even if you have loads more views).

 

[Ken H]

I wonder how this will affect advertising? For a long time, many newspapers and magazines purposely gave away free papers/mags to not only boost the circulation, but also to charger higher rates on the basis that they could say the readers were of a particular demographic. Hence, copies at airports/lounges, hotels and other prestigious locations.

Some lifestyle magazines for women were often sold at a loss (through paying WHSmith and others exceptional fees to place the magazines in prominent positions) to, again, boost the ad revenue significantly.

If complimentary copies go, that - to me - doesn't bode well for the future, given readerships are already way down (and it's very hard to replicate the income online, even if you have loads more views).

I am amazed the printed press has survived this long. They have been losing circulation year on year for decades. How can anyone justify a print run of under 100,000?
And the older generation who buy papers is dying out. I will bet a lot on the fact my adult grandkids dont buy papers ever.

 

[Mojo]

I noticed that BA have even axed their on-board magazine in printed format (at least on the flights I took to and from continental Europe a few months ago). Instead there was a sticker affixed to the back of the seat with a link to view an electronic copy; the BA website is always free to access even if you don't pay for the onboard Wifi.

I think BA don’t have any in their lounges anymore? I was in T5 lounge last week and don’t think I saw anything.

I didn't notice any when I was at T5 earlier in the summer. I also used one of the Swissport/Collinson lounges at Gatwick a few weeks ago for the first time since February 2020 and they didn't even seem to have any of those strange magazines that you only see in airports, the ones that were mostly full of advertorials trying to sell flats in ex-communist countries.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Sep 2022 ==

I was going to say that. Go to a business lounge and look for the number of people who don't have a laptop, a tablet or a decent mobile phone on which to read the news.

I suspect rather like on the under ground sections of LU, Aeroplanes will still be quite a common place to see people engaging in browsing 'dead tree media' for a few more years to come. Even with the many airlines offering Wifi on board, it is very rarely free to browse websites other than the airlines own, and almost never is something that you can rely on to actually work.

 

[telstarbox]

On the Guardian app it will cache the whole day's stories for offline reading and I assume the Times etc do similarly?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I suspect rather like on the under ground sections of LU, Aeroplanes will still be quite a common place to see people engaging in browsing 'dead tree media' for a few more years to come. Even with the many airlines offering Wifi on board, it is very rarely free to browse websites other than the airlines own, and almost never is something that you can rely on to actually work.

In 2010-2011 I weekly commuted to Switzerland on the early flight to Geneva on a Monday morning. Even then, someone without their head in an iPad was rare - almost every passenger had one. You can download things to read/watch.

Books I will give you (thought Kindles are popular), but physical newspapers are in their death throes. Probably only 10-20 years left even for the Torygraph, which I'd expect to be one of the last due to its ageing readership.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Sep 2022 ==

On the Guardian app it will cache the whole day's stories for offline reading and I assume the Times etc do similarly?

The Times goes further and offers an app (and it really is very good) with a very print like daily edition but formatted for phones and tablets. There's Guardian Editions too but it is nowhere near as good.

 

[Butts]

A bit late picking up replies - thanks.

BA Highlife hard copies still available in Lounges.

Looks like I will have to start buying an I at EDI in future

 

[hotelmode]

If you fly BA you have free access to Pressreader and all its titles when you fly. There's a link in the preflight email.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/entertainment/on-board-digital-reading

 

[Butts]

If you fly BA you have free access to Pressreader and all its titles when you fly. There's a link in the preflight email.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/entertainment/on-board-digital-reading

Not much use if you have not got a smartphone - some of us prefer the real paper variety.

 

[Brooke]

If you fly BA you have free access to Pressreader and all its titles when you fly. There's a link in the preflight email.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/entertainment/on-board-digital-reading

Interesting, never knew that! Might try it out.

 

[jon0844]

I once subscribed to some newspapers on my Kindle and I found I never read that much compared to the paper edition. In the end, I stopped the sub (but didn't go back to the paper) and so now rarely read any newspaper.

 

[island]

They had three or four different newspapers at LGW S a couple of weeks ago on the way to the gates. The FT which I took came without the usual inserts though.

 

[parkender102]

My last trip through Dubai International there were free copies of all the major world newspapers available for free - New York Times, Guardian, Le Monde etc. I was travelling Business Class though so not sure whether available in other parts of the airport. The Emirates Business Class Lounge at Dubai International is a sight to behold - it must be more than half a mile long and takes up the entire Upper Floor Level. Can't imagine what the Emirates 1st Class Lounge is like although I think maybe the Business Class Lounge is combined with the 1st Class Lounge?

 

[Butts]

My last trip through Dubai International there were free copies of all the major world newspapers available for free - New York Times, Guardian, Le Monde etc. I was travelling Business Class though so not sure whether available in other parts of the airport. The Emirates Business Class Lounge at Dubai International is a sight to behold - it must be more than half a mile long and takes up the entire Upper Floor Level. Can't imagine what the Emirates 1st Class Lounge is like although I think maybe the Business Class Lounge is combined with the 1st Class Lounge?

Has is got a smoking room within that vast expanse ?

 

[parkender102]

Pretty sure it did have a few smoking rooms. Multiple free food and drink stations all the way along the half mile length - regular top ups of Champagne from there while exploring! I arrived back in Manchester rather merry as I was flying Business Class on the Emirates A380 and also visited the On Board Bar on the way back. To be able to stand and have a drink at a bar on a plane takes you back to the Grand Old Days of flying. I was actually transitting at Dubai from an earlier Flight from New Delhi so it was rather a long session. I had to be poured into the complimentary waiting Limousine that took me home from Manchester! I did the trip twice and probably the only time I'll ever get to fly Business or First Class as the Company was paying and I could never justify the extra cost if I was paying for it myself. We actually got upgraded to First Class Dubai to New Delhi on the way out - think it was a 777 with your own separate room and huge TV. Only a 3 hour fligh so a bit of a waste as I slept all the way through it.

 

[Butts]

Pretty sure it did have a few smoking rooms. Multiple free food and drink stations all the way along the half mile length - regular top ups of Champagne from there while exploring! I arrived back in Manchester rather merry as I was flying Business Class on the Emirates A380 and also visited the On Board Bar on the way back. To be able to stand and have a drink at a bar on a plane takes you back to the Grand Old Days of flying. I was actually transitting at Dubai from an earlier Flight from New Delhi so it was rather a long session. I had to be poured into the complimentary waiting Limousine that took me home from Manchester! I did the trip twice and probably the only time I'll ever get to fly Business or First Class as the Company was paying and I could never justify the extra cost if I was paying for it myself. We actually got upgraded to First Class Dubai to New Delhi on the way out - think it was a 777 with your own separate room and huge TV. Only a 3 hour fligh so a bit of a waste as I slept all the way through it.

Not quite, Rothmans and Benson & Hedges would also have been part of the package !!

Sounds great though and newspapers to boot.

 

[neilmc]

Free newspapers at airports are a security risk, smokers might set fire to them on the plane if they find their political views challenged.

 

[Butts]

Free newspapers at airports are a security risk, smokers might set fire to them on the plane if they find their political views challenged.

Personally I'd rather set fire to a cigarette and read the newspaper !!

 

[island]

Just a data point that the newspaper racks at Gatwick south terminal were well stocked this weekend with a range of publications including the Financial Times.

 

[Butts]

Just a data point that the newspaper racks at Gatwick south terminal were well stocked this weekend with a range of publications including the Financial Times.

Here's me sitting reading this at LHR having travelled down from EDI on my way to JER.

None of them (to my knowledge) have the Free newspapers.

Even the the BA Lounges have stopped stocking them, plus no longer available as you board from the bins that used to be stocked up.

 

[Mojo]

Just a data point that the newspaper racks at Gatwick south terminal were well stocked this weekend with a range of publications including the Financial Times.

I can confirm the same from the North Terminal as well on Saturday morning; it had the FT, Evening Standard, City AM and New York Times. It also had that Red Bull magazine.