Originally Posted by
indianwells
It also has the second biggest circulation of any British newspaper. As this presumably means that lots and lots of people want to read it, i'm guessing BA are giving people what they want.
Just the opposite!
Newspapers make money from advertising; not from the sales of the newspaper. The higher the circulation, the more they can charge for advertising. Circulation is not based on sales but on how many newspapers get handed out and are not returned.
BA are being incentivised to give away free newspapers to boost the circulation numbers. That is how the circulations are so high. It is not necessarily giving people want they want but persuading them to take a copy since there is very little other option for a quick flick through while taxing to the runway.