Tray Table Advertising Gets More Intrusive, Comes to Ryanair

When America West first started putting ads on their tray tables a few years ago, I was skeptical. I didn’t like the idea of being forced to stare at ads for the entire flight. But in the end, America West put the ads on the inside of the tray tables, so it wasn’t too intrusive. (Well, except for the flight I took where there was a male model for Dillard’s staring at me the whole time I had a drink on the table – not cool.)

This isn’t Ryanair, but it’s a mockup from the company called Inviseo Marketing which apparently already works with Germanwings, LTU, and Aegean Airlines – all European carriers. Ryanair says this will be on all seatbacks within two years.

It’s not all bad. They’re pretty nice tray tables. You can see to the right of the ad, there is a little drop down cup holder so you don’t need to pull the whole tray down just for a drink. But, I’m sure that’s there to make sure you stare at the ad for even longer. Good times.