Simple Flying

aviation trade/enthusiast, broadly neutral

Background

Simple Flying was founded in 2018 by Arran Rice, a British digital publisher who built it from a passion project into what the site bills as the world's largest commercial aviation news website. By the time of its acquisition in December 2021, it reported around 7 million unique monthly visitors; Valnet says it has since grown to roughly 20 million pageviews per month. Valnet Inc., which also owns Screen Rant, Car and Driver's digital spin-offs, and similar ad-driven content brands, bought Simple Flying to expand its portfolio into the aviation vertical. The site operates with a globally distributed team of around 30 contributors across 14 countries. Its editorial focus is squarely on airline routes, aircraft orders, passenger incidents, and regulatory developments rather than partisan politics. However, the site has drawn credibility criticism: Wikipedia's aviation project has deprecated it as an unreliable source, citing instances of factual errors, insufficient fact-checking, and churnalism — republishing other outlets' reporting without independent verification. Its Biasly rating places it near center with minimal political lean, consistent with its trade-publication model.

Sources

1. Acquisition of SimpleFlying.com by Valnet Inc. — BusinessWire
2. About — Simple Flying
3. Valnet — Wikipedia
4. Wikipedia:Simple Flying (reliability discussion)
5. How Valnet's Acquisition Fueled Simple Flying's Growth — Valnet Insights
6. Simple Flying — Bias and Reliability — Biasly
7. Simple Flying — Crunchbase

Profile compiled 2026-09-04; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record