British Airways is using its in-flight magazine High Life to launch a new experiential travel website.Bahighlife.com launched on the 9th October to complement the 35-year-old title, one of the most famous and well-established brands in consumer and customer publishing.  The new site will borrow heavily from the monthly magazine and its impressive stable of contributors such as John Simpson, Will Self, Liz Jones and Janine di Giovanni. It will also absorb content from the hugely successful short-haul spin-off, Business Life.

The site was created by British Airways’ customer publishing agency, Cedar, working in conjunction with its digital partners, the Australian web development firm Reactive. Cedar’s British Airways media sales force, which already sells more than 30 different opportunities for the airline, believes the new site completes the cross-media picture as more advertisers look to work with the High Life brand online as well as in print.

The airline sees the target audience as discerning travellers who want to know about unique and unusual destinations, events, trends, products and services.

High Life editor Kerry Smith says: “Our readers like the unusual. They’re always looking for original things to do, off the beaten path. They’re style-conscious, without being trendy - and they’re hard to reach in conventional media”.

The new site coincides with the groundbreaking October issue of High Life. Following last year’s issue edited by Michael Palin, this year’s guest editor is the chef Heston Blumenthal. A highlight of Heston’s themed food issue is a one-off opportunity to win dinner at his Fat Duck restaurant, a competition which is expected to drive thousands of readers to the new website.

Dee Brady, British Airways’ Entertainment and Media Manager, said: “We have deliberately taken our time researching the needs of readers and advertisers before launching bahighlife.com. It’s vital that as well as complementing the print offering we also work closely with the main ba.com site, offering depth and colour to the experience of travelling with British Airways”.

The new project follows the launch of Metrotwin, a BA website devoted to user-generated content from frequent flyers between New York and London - another new opportunity for advertisers sold though Cedar’s British Airways Media arm.
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