Inflight magazines go business class. (targeting business travellers)(International Business Media)

Business travellers trapped in the air are now aggressively targeted by inflight magazines. But do they read them?

There's no doubt that a number of inflight magazines are now moving in the same advertising spheres as traditional consumer glossies and their publishers would like to pitch the likes of Hot Air against stalwarts such as GQ and Vogue. But what about the Economist, Newsweek and Management Today? Over the last year there has been a buzz of activity in the inflight magazine world aimed at improving the offering to businessmen and the business advertiser.

Susan Byrne managing partner at BJK&E Media, which buys for the Financial Times and Merrill Lynch, believes that inflight magazines are now a credible vehicle. "In the past 18 months or so they've gone from being what was like a duty-free catalogue to something a business person would find relevant," she says. But, despite this and the appeal of a package …