NEW YORK (Reuters) --For busy corporate travelers who can't spare valuable time standing on line in a crowded store, shopping for last-minute holiday gifts is just an arm's length away -- in the aircraft seat pocket in front of them.
"In the rush of traveling, you don't always manage to get everything done," said Ben Delaney, president of CyberEdge information services, in Oakland, California.
"It's great when I realize I was supposed to bring something for the host where I'm going, or a gift for my wife," said Delaney, who has bought "perfume, jewelry and gadgety things" from in-flight boutiques during his travels to Europe and Asia.
Long-haul carriers have a vast selection, often 100 or more pages, of duty-free merchandise, a veritable Who's Who or Fortune 500 list of internationally known brands -- Sony, Clinique, Gaultier, Zegna, Steiff -- of handheld computers, cameras, cosmetics, perfume, silk or leather goods and toys.
"Some items are really quite fine and some more plebeian," said retailer David Cully, CEO of Blue Tulip, whose stores in Princeton and Marlton, New Jersey, and Paoli, Pennsylvania, "revolve around gifts for personal occasions" in people's lives. "I think the branded gifts have the most appeal."
Names with global recognition give foreign-flag carriers an opportunity to showcase their own designers, like British Airways' inclusion of Stella McCartney, Paul Smith, classic Burberry ties and scarves, and memorabilia from Concorde, which made its last trans-Atlantic supersonic flight in October.
Germany's Lufthansa puts forth Hugo Boss, Jil Sander, Porsche and Braun brands, and Austrian Airlines its selection of Swarovski crystal bracelets, rings and necklaces.
"You are really trading on brand recognition and the quality that is associated with that brand," said Cully, whose travels this year took him to Germany, Atlanta and Dallas.
Duty-free shopping guides are printed by vendors, who also handle inventory. They cater mostly to sophisticated adults, as illustrated by Alitalia's abbondanza of high-profile names such as Fendi, Armani, Versace, Ferragamo and Dolce & Gabbana.
A choice of more than 30 designer fragrances for women and a dozen for men is available in Air France's La Boutique, as are Longchamp leather goods and Fauchon chocolates.
Scandinavian-made products such as Denmark's Georg Jensen silver, Swedish crystal and Finland's colorful Marimekko products take the spotlight in the pages of SAS Flightshop.
There is no tax, so the customer's total cost tends to be lower than in luxury stores, but "in that kind of environment, price is less of an issue than convenience," said Cully.
Often-bored frequent flyers may get a lift from the cheeky twist that Virgin Atlantic's Retail Therapy magazine gives to normally predictably named product sections, using titles such as Sniff Sniff, Yum Yum, Glug Glug, Gimme Gimme and Bling Bling. And the edgiest, steamiest layouts can be found in TAP Air Portugal's bilingual On Air magazine.
On trans-Pacific routes, passengers can buy in-flight or via mail order. Such products as Singapore Girl silk scarves and batik travel bags are available from Singapore Airlines' KrisShop. JAL's duty-free and mail-order catalog sells Mikimoto pearls and Japanese brewer Suntory's 12-year-old malt whisky. And smokers will find Chunghwa cigarettes on China Southern, the largest airline in the People's Republic of China.
"It's a little more interesting at the international level," said Cully. "On domestic trips, the flights are shorter and I am often preoccupied with other things."
Nonetheless, the very successful SkyMall, the largest U.S. in-flight and mail-order catalog company, has more than 20 partners -- American Airlines, United, Delta, Continental and Northwest among them. Its Holiday 2003 issue has 252 pages of gift ideas in 11 categories -- from Apparel and Automotive to Pets and Office -- available from more than ten featured stores such as Hammacher Schlemmer, Magellans and Sharper Image.
Everybody wins, says aviation consultant Peter Klaus.
"It's a great thing for the airlines. Say you have one flight a day 365 days a year, averaging sales of $1,000 or above. With 20 flights a day, it adds up," said New York-based Klaus."If you derive a 20 percent or 30 percent profit without overhead, it's not difficult to figure out that it is a good thing all around - good service for the passenger and profitable for the airlines and the duty-free companies."
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