Don't Check the Seatback; These Airline In-Flight Magazines are on Your iPad

March 24, 2011 at 10:01 AM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

Pay attention, because you may never hear us admit this again: in-flight magazines aren't all that bad. Actually, some are quite good! We've been known to actually take them home and read the articles or—gasp—rip out pages and magnet them to our fridge for future reference. If you're a closet fan of in-flight magazines like we are, then this is your time, friend; more and more airlines are moving their print rags to be in more than just your seat-back pocket, but in your iPad too (and iPad 2).

Here's the airlines and their iTunes-downloadable iPad magazines:

United/Continental Hemispheres: This is the newest player on the scene, as the merger airline only launched their iPad version earlier this month. March is the first issue, featuring the Mexican Riviera and Peru's culinary scene. Happily it makes great use of iPad's interactive features, allowing for 360-degree image views, videos and direct links to buy advertised products (of course advertised creatively). Hemisphere is free to download direct from iTunes HERE.

Lufthansa Magazin:
This one's worth downloading for the awesome, spanning panoramic photos with most articles. March's issue includes looks at Hong Kong, the jumbo jet hostel in Amsterdam, and Lufthansa's aviation innovation thinktank. It is also free and downloadable from iTunes HERE.

Malaysia Airlines Going Places:
Believe it or not, Malaysia Airlines was the first to add an iPad version of their magazine. Going Places however sticks pretty well to the magazine layout, even including those final few pages of in-flight entertainment options, like what movies are playing on your flight (or ones you aren't on, because you're reading this from your couch). Get the app free HERE on iTunes.

ANA Wingspan:
Okay, so this is one of the coolest in-flight magazine apps that's been released. First, you enter ANA's "Virtual Airport," and indeed that is the name of the app. From the menu, designed like an airport environment, you can bounce over to read the bilingual Wingspan features, check out their Facebook, book more flights on their website, watch videos, check your mileage balance, and wait with bated breath for an 787 updates. Download it for free on iTunes HERE.

TAP Portugal Up: TAP's iPad magazine offering is destination-heavy. The March issue along features the Estoril Coast, Switzerland, Pantanal, Copenhagen, Lisboa and Estrada Real, and since everything (mostly) is bilingual, there's enough pages to keep you entertained. It also promises iPad-exclusive content, but we've not had a chance to compare the print and electronic versions quite yet.
. Download it for free on iTunes HERE.

SkyMall:
It's not an airline's magazine per se, but it is a magazine you find on airplanes, and often it's more chewed up than the rest of the contents of the seatback pocket. Thus, it earns a mention here since SkyMall has gone the extra distance to make your browsing of Harry Potter's Hogwarts wand, back massagers and motorized tie hangars much easier. Get the FREE SkyMall iPad app on iTunes HERE.

[Photos: iTunes]

Jaunted

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