Airline Mobile Ads: 70% of Spend by 2025

According to a 2025 report from eMarketer, over 70% of all digital ad spend for travel and hospitality is going to mobile platforms. If you’re selling airline pre-orders, that means the smartphone is where your customers are making decisions. So you’ve got to build every ad, every landing page, every single interaction for that small screen and the person holding it.

Selling airline pre-orders on mobile isn’t about shrinking your desktop ads. It’s about building an entire process, from discovery to purchase, that works naturally on a phone. We’re talking about how people find, consider, and in the end buy add-ons. Get this wrong, and you’re just lighting money on fire, leaving a ton of ancillary revenue from things like paid meals and baggage upgrades for someone else to grab.

65% of Airline App Pre-Order Conversions Originate from In-App Ads

A recent IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) analysis found something huge: 65% of pre-order conversions inside airline apps are coming directly from in-app ads. This is the foundation of your entire mobile strategy for these services. The data shows the whole journey, from seeing an ad to buying, is happening inside the app. People aren’t leaving to go to a mobile website. They’re staying put. My take here is simple: deep linking is absolutely essential. If your in-app ad for an extra baggage allowance doesn’t zap the user straight to the purchase page within the app, you’ve added a step. Every extra step, every unnecessary tap, gives the user a chance to get confused or annoyed and just abandon the purchase. We’ve seen clients nail their deep-linking strategy, taking a user from an ad for priority boarding directly to the booking screen with their flight already loaded, and the results are always good. Without that kind of precision, you’re just losing people.

A/B Testing Mobile Ad Creatives Increases CTR by 20%

HubSpot Research published a study in late 2025 showing that brands consistently A/B testing their mobile ad creatives for pre-orders get a 20% average lift in click-through rates (CTR) over those who just set it and forget it. That’s a massive argument for constant experimentation. Too many marketers find a couple of ads that work and just let them run forever, but the mobile ad space changes too fast for that. A 20% uplift means that tiny changes to your ad copy, your images, your CTA button, or even the time of day you show the ad can be the difference between a campaign that loses money and one that’s a huge winner. Let’s say an airline is promoting lounge access. Creative A shows a quiet, empty lounge. Creative B shows someone enjoying a drink. You have to test both against different audiences and at different times to find out what actually works. You can’t assume your first idea is the best. We tell our clients to build automated A/B testing right into their Google Ads or Meta Business Manager campaigns so that improvements are continuous and baked into the process.

Over 40% of Users Expect Personalized Pre-Order Recommendations

A 2026 Nielsen report on travel consumer expectations found that over 40% of users now expect personalized pre-order recommendations based on their flight history. This shows a major change in what people want. Generic ads promoting the same seat upgrade to everyone get ignored because travelers are already getting personalized offers from every other app they use. This is tough to pull off, but it’s also a huge opportunity. The difficult part is having the systems to collect and act on customer data instantly. But if you can do it, you can serve ads that are actually helpful. Think about an ad for an extra legroom seat that only shows up for a 6’5″ frequent flyer who always books economy on 10-hour flights, or a special meal offer sent to someone who has ordered a vegetarian option on their last three trips. This shows you’re paying attention to what the customer actually wants and needs. Airlines that can segment audiences and tailor ads based on booking history or loyalty status will see conversion rates their competitors can’t touch. It requires good customer data platforms and tight ad tech integration, but the payoff in higher CVR and ROAS is absolutely there.
To win, airlines have to go all-in on mobile-first for pre-orders. This means prioritizing the in-app experience with deep linking and serving hyper-personalized, interactive ads that meet today’s customer expectations and grow revenue. AI revenue platforms are becoming key to processing the data needed to make this happen.

Interactive Ad Formats Boost Engagement Rates by Up to 35%

You can get up to a 35% lift in engagement rates by using interactive ad formats instead of static banners for pre-order services. This stat from IAB’s annual mobile ad reports isn’t just about using something new and shiny. It’s about giving users a richer, more active experience. Interactive formats can be anything from a poll or quiz to a 360-degree view of a cabin. My view is that while static banners are fine for brand awareness, when you’re actively trying to sell an upgrade, making it interactive is what works. It lets people explore the options and see the value before they click. For example, an airline could run an ad that lets you “sit” in different seat configurations or take a virtual tour of the premium lounge. When a user plays with the ad, they’re building their own interest and feel more confident about what they’re buying. We’ve had success with formats that let users pick their meal type right in the ad unit. You want the ad to feel like a helpful preview, not just another interruption.

The Conventional Wisdom: Mobile-First Means Mobile-Optimized

A lot of folks in this industry think “mobile-first” just means your stuff works on a phone. They believe that as long as your website and ads look okay on a smartphone, you’re good. I disagree completely. For airline pre-orders, mobile-first means you design the entire process from the ground up with the phone in mind. It’s about rethinking the whole flow. People on their phones are usually distracted, have short attention spans, and want things to work instantly. That means you need simpler forms, fewer clicks, and visual designs that are easy to get in a second. A real mobile-first strategy is built for the app. It uses device features like location to make relevant offers (like promoting lounge access when the user is at the airport) and integrates one-tap payment options. It also means you have to respect context. Someone scrolling Instagram is in a totally different headspace than someone in your app looking to change their flight. It’s a huge mistake to treat all mobile users the same. The companies that win are the ones that understand these behavioral differences and build their campaigns around them. Airlines need a real mobile-first plan for pre-orders, one that focuses on in-app experiences, deep linking, and personalized, interactive ads to keep up with what customers want and to actually drive revenue. This is all part of the larger shift in AI marketing and customer acquisition.