Spafax is an international travel media network. They provide content technology and media assets at scale for airlines along with licensing rights to movies, TV, audio, and video games for use in airline

in-flight entertainment In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship ''LZ 129 Hindenburg, Hindenburg'' offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the ...

(IFE) systems. Spafax was founded in London in 1985 and is now part of

WPP Group WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It was the world's largest advertising company, as of 2019. WPP plc owns many compan ...

PLC, in the Specialist Communications & PR divisionWPP Group acquires Spafax
/ref> with over a dozen offices around the world.

History

Spafax started as Bath Spa Factors in Bath, England in the 1930s as a garage servicing

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

and

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...

cars. From there, they evolved into a parts distributor with a European network. In order to communicate with the sales force, Bath Spa Factors decided to take advantage of

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...

to create films with local talents, from there a film division was born. Spafax Television was one of the earliest customized programme producers that built up a blue chip client base that included the likes of

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

and Marconi. And then, Duncan Hilleary, one of Spafax's earliest contributors, arrived on the scene in 1986 and pitched a plan for an airline network. He and filmmaker Jeremy Hunter partnered with the newly named Spafax Airline Network resulted in a contract to produce advertising and video productions for

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

. The video production, a monthly magazine-style program called The World Traveler Show featuring different locations around the world, led to contracts with different airlines, including Singapore and Northwest. In 1993, Hilleary pioneered the outsourcing of in-flight entertainment to British Airways (BA) with a dedicated team located in a BA office in

Buckingham Palace Road Buckingham Palace Road is a street that runs through Victoria, London, from the south side of Buckingham Palace towards Chelsea, forming the A3214 road. It is dominated by Victoria Station. History In the 18th century, the road was known as ...

and re-launched BA's IFE with a new programming strategy, a new graphic identity and media brand. This new approach was also one of the first to offer tangible benefits to the airline in the form of substantial savings against the BA (IFE) budget. From 1995 to 2004, Spafax has expanded to Canada, Asia, South America, and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. Spafax now has 8 offices worldwide from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

Operations

Spafax office locations: * London * Montreal * Toronto * Santiago * Orange County *Los Angeles (The Hub) * Dubai * Singapore *Hong Kong *Beijing * Frankfurt * New York City *Madrid

Services

Publishing

Part of Spafax's services include publishing with a specialization in custom publishing.

Entertainment

Spafax's main clients are airlines, which started the company. They offer custom in-flight entertainment and branding services to their clients; from publishing to in-flight entertainment media.

Media sales

Advertising and media sales is part of Spafax's services. This aspect of their service is created to sell advertising.

Other services

In lieu of current trends and digital development, customized digital branding is a part of the services offered by Spafax division, Spafax Studio.

References

{{WPP Marketing companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1985 Marketing companies established in 1985