Living the ‘High Life’ through 500 editions of BA’s in-flight mag

A lot of airplanes have taxied down the runway since British Airways in-flight magazine ‘High Life’ was launched to inform and entertain passengers – 42 years ago.

British Airways magazine High Life will celebrate its 500th edition with a look back on issues which entertained 3.3 million passengers a month for the past 42 years Image by RHL Images / CC BY-SA 2.0

Now as it looks to celebrate its 500^th edition, the magazine recalls in words and pictures how its pages celebrated the good and the great, the highflyers and the quick flyers such as Concorde, which operated from London to New York for a number of decades.

The Daily Mirror reports how times have changed since the iconic mag became part and parcel of every British Airways traveller’s experience.

Benedict Cumberbatch will write in the 500th edition of High Life Image by Johan Persson/Premier Comms/PA Wire

One such article centred on the airline offering half-priced flights to spouses who accompanied their husbands on business trips. The piece is quite outdated in its use of language and almost snorting at the fact that men could also travel for half price if accompanying their businesswoman wives –   inferring that such a rare situation could hardly exist at all.

It will be a trip down memory lane for readers of this edition as they recall the heyday of Morecambe and Wise and Jilly Cooper and the perils of female passengers travelling alone in Istanbul.

British Airways’ head of customer relations, Abi Comber, said High Life in every edition sought to highlight the best in travel for its readers.

Among those contributing to the special 500 edition of the magazine are tv journalists Jon Snow and John Simpson and actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

The in-flight magazine is read by 3.3 million people every month.