It’s a memorable moment for many of us, boarding an aeroplane for the first time, and staring out the window with a mix of wonder and trepidation as the ground drops further and further away and the journey to an exciting new destination begins.
But with numbers at unprecedented levels – 100,000 flights criss-cross the globe each day carrying one million people on board – perhaps it’s not surprising that flying now seems a bit, well, ordinary.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), in partnership with Redactive Media Group, aims to reclaim some of the lost excitement of flying with Plane Stories, a new public-facing website which explores aviation in an interactive, engaging format, and highlights the health, wealth and happiness that this vast industry provides.
Plane Stories – which went live at the beginning of December and has already received over 30,000 visitors – is a fully responsive, animated micro-site, designed as a beginner’s guide to aviation. Polls, videos and a Q&A feature with IATA’s specially created quizzical flyer, Mr Curious, enable the user to interact with the site and demonstrate the scope of the industry, its impact on the global economy, and its relevance to those outside the industry, as well as those within.
CNN are currently running an extensive advertising campaign on Plane Stories, and the site is also being promoted via Twitter, Google and Outbrain. With this coverage, Plane Stories is on track to reach the global audience for which it has been designed. The ease and speed of air travel may make the world appear smaller, but Plane Stories shows the immense scale of the aviation industry and the benefits it brings to the world at large.