Hemispheres Magazine Takes Off With Contemporary Redesign

Refreshed design and editorial features provide United Airlines’ customers a rich taste of what the world has to offer

CHICAGO, June 1, 2009 – United Airlines has redesigned its Hemispheres magazine featuring a more contemporary design format and editorial that builds on its most popular, award-winning features written for a strong readership base consisting of America’s most affluent and influential business executives. The newly redesigned magazine unveils with the June edition that is on board all United flights starting today.

Working with Ink, which United hired in December, the company created a more fresh, open design concept and new editorial direction aimed at better reflecting the diversity and interests of its customers.

"We've refreshed our publication with more of the stories that speak directly to our customers’ wide-ranging interests, with top-notch writing and contemporary design, as well as more of the beautiful photography and thoughtful, often whimsical illustration for which this magazine has come to be known,” said Tony Cervone, United senior vice president and chief communications officer. “We wanted Hemispheres to align more with United’s brand and our customers’ overall experience."

Now in its 17th year, Hemispheres has earned more than 300 awards for editorial features and design from the Custom Publishing Council, the North American Travel Journalists Association, Communication Arts, the Society of Publication Designers and World Airline Entertainment Association among others. In 2007, Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) designated Hemispheres as the national publication with the most affluent readership, higher than The Wall Street Journal, Barron's and Fortune, as well as a number of national travel magazines.

“Hemispheres offers the curious flyer a break from the everyday and builds upon the best elements of the in-flight experience,” said Simon Leslie, Ink’s group publishing director, noting that the provider of more than 30 in-flight and other travel-related magazines hired a team of seasoned editorial and graphic design veterans from leading general consumer magazines, including W, Mirabella, Radar, Premiere, National Geographic Adventure, Rolling Stone and Details, among others to work on the revamped Hemispheres.

According to Cervone, fans of Hemispheres will continue to enjoy some of the publication’s steady favorites. "’Three Perfect Days’ remains the flagship of the magazine, but with a few interesting extras,” he said. “And the Voices column can still be found at the front of each issue, giving our readers a more insightful view of the work we all do.”

There are also several new features, including "Whirlwind," which offers readers an interesting, must-see guide to a given city based on a five-hour layover, and a portrait and mini-profile of one of United’s customers on the last page of every issue, among other new elements.

“In a tough climate for newsstand magazines, an in-flight title with a smashing new design and sophisticated content creates an engaging atmosphere for both the reader and the advertiser,” Leslie added. “Overall, we can’t think of a more powerful partner for key high-end companies looking to expose their luxury brands to a global market.”

Hemispheres is published twelve times per year and available on more than 3,100 United flights per day. For more information, visit www.hemispheresmagazine.com.

Note to editors:

About Ink:
Ink produces more inflight magazines for more airlines than any other company in the world.

Airline clients include Air Macau, AirTran Airways, Bangkok Airways, bmi, bmibaby, Brussels Airlines, Cebu Pacific, China Airlines, easyJet, Gulf Air, Jazeera Airways, Jet2.com, Jetstar Airlines, Jetstar Asia Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Mandala Airlines, Midwest Airlines, PrivatAir, Ryanair, SpiceJet, Thai Airways International, Tiger Airways, Thomas Cook, United Airlines, vivaAerobus, VLM Airlines and Wizz Air.

The company also produces CNBC European Business magazine, Time Out Singapore magazine, Hotline for Virgin Trains, TurboJet Horizon for the world’s largest ferry company, and Carlson Wagonlit Connect.

Ink has offices in London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Atlanta.

About United
United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA) operates over 3,100* flights a day on United and United Express to more than 200 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United also is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 912 destinations in 159 countries worldwide. United's 48,500 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company's Web site at www.united.com.
*Based on United's forward-looking flight schedule for April 1, 2009 to April 1, 2010.

Ink:
United Kingdom Tel: +44 20 7613-8777 / fax: +44 845 280-2413
Atlanta Tel: +1 678 553 8080 / fax: +1 678 553 8099
Hong Kong Tel: +852 3541 9894 / fax: +852 3017 7971
New York Tel: +1 888 685 1681 / fax: +1 646 349 3844
Singapore Tel: +65 6324 2386 / fax: +65 6491 5261