Thomson uses children in new safety film

Holiday Extras Customers' Awards 2011 - winners and shortlisted

Follow Holiday Extras on

[July 8, 2009]

Thomson Airways is about to roll-out an innovative in-flight safety film on its flights worldwide.

The new film features a group of children demonstrating oxygen masks, lifejackets and emergency exits rather than the usual cabin crew, in order to re-engage passengers with the subject matter.

Research based on existing onboard safety videos has suggested that passengers find them tired and boring. Thomson quotes a study from the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) in 2006 which found that 54% of passengers did not watch the in-flight safety video in its entirety.

Holiday Extras' own research during May 2009 backs this up. Twenty one per cent of the leading travel add-ons company's customers admitted to not feeling it necessary to watch the flight safety demonstration.

Carl Gissing, Director of Customer Services at Thomson Airways, said: “The safety and security of our customers has always been our number one priority. The creative style of this new film demonstrates our commitment to communicating important safety instructions in a way which maximises audience engagement. By adopting a somewhat quirky approach to a mandatory airline safety briefing, we believe that we will achieve increased levels of attention from our customers – and any subsequent debate that arises over in-flight safety can only be a good thing.”

During studies, Thomson has already found a 15% increase in the number of passengers who paid full attention to the video; 66% increase in the number of passengers who felt that the new film made them feel more safe; 333% growth in the number of passengers who engaged with the video; and 91% increase in the number of children under the age of 12 who watched the entire video until the end.

The new film can be watched on You Tube. It will run on all short and mid-haul Thomson flights from Monday July 13 2009 and all long-haul routes from September 2009.

Written by: Maxine Clarke

Flying with your family this summer? Remember to pre-book your family room at an airport hotel with Holiday Extras for the most relaxed start to your holiday.

Follow Holiday Extras on