Big Street wins Delhi Metro's Airport Express line

Big Street, the out of home arm of Reliance Broadcast Network, has won the advertising rights for the Airport Express line of Delhi Metro, which connects the 24 km stretch between New Delhi station and Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI). It is set to open by the end of this month.

Usually, the ad rights for metro lines are awarded through a tender process by DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation). However, in the case of the Airport Express line, since the concessionaire for the line is Reliance Infrastructure, the rights for the route were awarded to its sister concern, bypassing the bidding process.

Apart from the usual branding options available on other metro lines, the route will have different platform screen doors, which are like glass walls that screen the platform from the train and provide an advertising format.

However, as of now, the inventory available is on the premises of the station and not on the civil structure. Also, since there are only a handful of stations, the agency is exploring advertising options inside the trains.

The route, which has six stations, will provide baggage check-in facility for air travellers at New Delhi Station, Shivaji Stadium and Dhaula Kuan. Apart from this, passengers other than air travellers will also be able to board the train at a premium price.

The agency is looking at 20,000-25,000 riders per day. "Since there is a check-in facility available at the stations, the estimation is primarily based on the number of air travellers. However, there will be a small segment of non-air travellers," says Ashwin Padmanabhan, national head, Big Street.

Since the route primarily caters to SEC A and A+, the advertising clients that have come on board are also in premium segment. "The categories that have come on board are FMCG, auto and telecom, among others, and they are basically looking at advertising premium products," says Padmanabhan.