Delta Sky Magazine tops 5 million monthly readers

The world's most read in-flight magazine focuses on business, lifestyle and travel

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Jun 07, 2012, 09:00 ET

ATLANTA, June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) in-flight publication, Sky Magazine, remains the most widely read in-flight magazine, eclipsing the 5 million mark for the first time with over 5.12 million monthly readers, according to GfK MRI's latest Survey of the American Consumer which tracks magazine audiences. In addition to leading the in-flight category, Sky's readership stands as one of the largest among all consumer, travel and business magazines.

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"Our goal with Sky was to break the in-flight magazine mold, by covering what is new in business and lifestyle in addition to travel," said Tim Mapes, Delta's senior vice president - Marketing. "Delta customers are sophisticated, well-seasoned travelers for whom Sky is a relied upon source of valued information. It is no surprise that Delta's efforts to enhance Sky, within our overall effort to constantly improve travel, is meeting with success."

In March, Sky debuted a new Spanish-language section called Despegando. This monthly section highlights unique places to discover, explores style and inspiration, offers travel advice and features celebrity interviews among other features specifically tailored to Delta's Spanish-speaking customers.

The July issue of Sky will include new editorial sections such as "Creative Commons," -- a feature about up and coming local creative-types including small business owners, musicians and artists – "Fork & the Road with Andrew Zimmern" as well as expanded business and technology content.

"We know our readers are tuned in, well-traveled and consume other media," said Jayne Haugen Olson, Sky editor in chief. "Our editors consider how and where Sky layers in amongst what our audience is already reading from category leaders in business, travel, food, and lifestyle and aim to cover current topics that work to be a part of the conversation—the popular culture zeitgeist. "

In May, CNNgo.com, a CNN International travel site based in Hong Kong, ranked Sky as the top U.S. airline magazine on its "World's 12 best airline magazines."

GfK MRI is the industry standard for magazine audience ratings in the U.S. and is used in the majority of media and marketing plans in the country.

Sky is published monthly by is Minneapolis-based MSP Communications, one of the largest publishing companies in the upper Midwest

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. During the past year, Delta was named domestic "Airline of the Year" by the readers of Travel Weekly magazine, was named the "Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline" by PCWorld magazine for its innovation in technology and won the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 350 destinations in 65 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $3 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.