Taiwanese carrier China Airlines has just received its first A321neo passenger aircraft which heralds a new era in the airline’s narrow-body fleet. A total of 25 of these advanced Airbus aircraft will enter the fleet over the coming years, which will operate short-haul routes including Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and Cross-strait. The aircraft itself features…
Read MoreEven non-aviation enthusiasts may have noticed that the skies look a little different today. As we head into another year since the pandemic first decimated commercial aviation, the large behemoth A380s and Queens of the skies – the Boeing 747 – are a rare sight at airports nowadays. Replaced by more economic and smaller long-haul…
Read MoreAir China has just announced it will bring a brand new Business Class seat to 10 of its A350s. While the carrier has a diverse selection of business class seats depending on which aircraft you are travelling on – the latest A350 seats might not be the most spacious, but they might just be the…
Read MoreAs 2021 comes to a close, we take a look back at some of our most popular stories on the site this year, as well a few of our own favourites too. Do let us know what were your own personal highlights too, we’d love to hear from you. Here’s to another exciting year in…
Read MoreStarlux Airlines, Taiwan’s latest startup is starting to turn heads. Originally a start-up that – like most – had a questionable future, seems to be full-steam ahead with a recent uniform and A321neo cabin launch. It hasn’t stopped there though, as there have been signature scents and even homeware products that the airline has launched…
Read MoreAVIC Cabin Services is more than just AIM altitude and Thompson Aero Seating, however those will be more familiar names than Jiatai. However, it’s one company and part of the group not to be overlooked. Jiatai’s new JT220B Business Class and JT220E Economy Class seats are a result of the company’s strategy, supported by ACS,…
Read MorePassenger seat rules and regulations regarding ergonomics haven’t really changed in decades. However, as a race, human’s have continued to evolve, and we’re getting larger and taller. This means economy seats and cabins once comfortable for passengers in the 1960’s are no longer viable for today’s traveller. In fact the CDC says between 1960 and…
Read MoreThe news of a new narrow-body interior for a flag-carrier in South East Asia usually would usually find other carriers across the world become a little more nervous, as expectations of a premium passenger experience adds pressure to enhance their own offerings. We’ve seen in the past few years new flatbeds in Singapore Airlines narrowbodies,…
Read MoreLufthansa is utilising this time to trial new economy concept products. While it recently announced that in economy passengers on short-haul flights will now have to pay for dining and drink options, on the long-haul network the carrier is currently testing a new Economy Class seating concept called “Sleeper’s Row”. This product follows the likes…
Read MoreChina Airlines has a fairly phenomenal lounge in Terminal 1 of Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport. Designed by Ray Chen back in 2014, the larger of the three lounges is a beautiful designer heaven, featuring both a business class and VIP section that was inspired by the Song Dynasty with a conceptual use of a “southern china…
Read MoreJuneyao Airlines has just revealed its new cabin crew uniform, which will be rolled out on the new route from Shanghai to Helsinki this week. The threads, designed by Guo Pei, might look familiar, with the female uniform looking quite similar to the Cheongsam dresses from Hainan Airlines thanks to the ornate embroidery and Chinese traditional elements.…
Read MoreChina Airlines has won countless awards from TheDesignAir over the years due to its constant drive to quantum leap their cabin product. Now at a truly international level, the airline is investing in to new dining concepts that both innovate and get the taste buds going. This summer, China Airlines is introducing a number of…
Read MoreEtihad has always been a challenger brand in the Middle East, even if it’s not the youngest of the carriers. Often shadowed by its much larger, blingier cousin Emirates, and self-styled luxury carrier Qatar Airways, Etihad has had a bigger hill to climb, either winning market share, or the hearts and wallets of this lucrative…
Read MoreEVA Air, unlike it’s competitor China Airlines, offers sleepwear for it’s Business Class passengers on the carrier’s long-haul flights. Extending on a successful partnership, EVA Air is updating its collaboration with internationally renowned fashion designer Jason Wu to create its second-generation inflight sleepwear. The exclusive partnership brought to life by global design company Buzz, sees…
Read MoreTheDesignAir is pleased to announce the shortlist for the DesignAir Awards 2019 and just like last couple of years, we’ve opened some of the categories to the public. The voting is now closed! Now is your chance to pick from our shortlisted categories for Best Design Airline, by region, across the globe. All it takes…
Read MoreBoth China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines are receiving new cabin products for their latest generation aircraft deliveries. Shanghai Airlines’ 787 Dreamliner arrived at the Hongqiao International Airport, delivered to China Eastern’s affiliated Shanghai Airlines to become the carrier’s 100th aircraft. The new aircraft will initially serve domestic routes between Shanghai and Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. After that,…
Read MoreStarlux is currently a bit of an enigma. Slowly but surely, parts of the passenger experience are being revealed ahead of its launch in January 2020. The airline has already revealed its uniforms which are part-astronaut, part haute couture. There are also product ranges, fully-flat beds on their short-haul aircraft and now a cute, comic-book…
Read MoreVirgin Atlantic has just revealed its latest social space found on the final five A350’s that will be delivered for the carrier. Instead of ‘The Loft’ – the social space found on its first wave of A350’s – the last few Airbus aircraft to be delivered have been configured for the carrier’s leisure routes. This…
Read MoreAir New Zealand has a fairly unique proposition, offering daily ultra long-haul flights across the globe while catering to a home country with just half the population of London. As such, its had to innovate to remain at the top of it’s game, and has already rolled out products like the (short-lived) Premium Economy Spaceseat,…
Read MoreDesigned exclusively for EVA Air, through a new partnership with Jason Wu, the airline has launched a collection of branded unisex sleeper suits and slippers for Royal Laurel/Premium Laurel Class passengers. David Chen, Senior Vice-President at EVA Air, said: “As Taiwan’s premiere airline, we are proud to partner with world-renowned luxury designer, Jason Wu. Together,…
Read MoreHNA is the latest contemporary airline to bring both brand image and passenger experience inline with a holistic approach designed by UK-based company PriestmanGoode. For over two years the design studio was brought in ‘to create designs that reflect a sense of place and appeal to international passengers’. Entitled ‘Dream Feather’ the concept is…
Read MoreFor anyone that travels in premium cabins a lot, there seem to be a few moving goalposts when it comes to an internationally standardised product. Where some carriers believe business class comes with all bells and whistles, such as chauffeur drive, the same carrier might not believe in pyjamas. While some offer dine on demand,…
Read MoreNo matter how we look at it, the aviation business class landscape is changing, and is potentially as fragmented as ever. The race to the bottom is evident, even in currently touted ‘5-star airlines’ who seek profitability. Whether a desire to chase the most effective cabin configuration (LOPA), decision to reduce amenities to the bare…
Read MoreTheDesignAir is pleased to announce the shortlist for the DesignAir Awards 2018 and just like last year, we’ve opened some of the categories to the public, so you can vote for the winners you feel are most worthy. Now is your chance to pick from our shortlisted categories for Best Design Airline, by region, across…
Read MoreStarting 1st December 2017, China Airlines will bring their state-of-the-art A350-900 from Taipei to London Gatwick. The carrier is the latest to join a growing list of long-haul airlines flying from Asia. This additional European destination joins Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Rome and Vienna that the carrier also regularly flies to. Initially flying 4 times a week,…
Read MoreJoon, the millennial airline by Air France has just launched a new hybrid economy product that will be music to young family’s ears. Four rows of the economy cabin will now be fitted with pairs of seats that can be converted in to beds for kids. This is almost the same as the Sky Couch…
Read MoreHong Kong Airlines just received its latest A350, and with it, the next evolution of its premium experience, unveiling a newly upgraded Business Class seat. This new seat rivals that of Cathay Pacific and here at TheDesignAir we actually prefer the Super Diamond product compared to Cathay Pacific’s due to its increased space and storage…
Read MoreBelieve it or not, the 777 toilet may not be one of the most talked about parts of the passenger experience, but it hasn’t really changed since the 777 came to service decades ago. So step ahead 24 years and it’s about time that a company is offering a brand new concept to the aircraft’s…
Read MoreA few years ago, the race was on to kit out an airline’s entire fleet with fully-flat, all-aisle access seats in business class, as this was a quantifiable benefit from competitors who were offering either angled lie-flat or seats that didn’t feature aisle access. A few key seats became de-facto benchmarks in passenger expectations, including…
Read MoreToday saw the official arrival of the British Airways A350. The aircraft which was meant to arrive on Friday was delayed due to the air traffic control and weather issues at Heathrow. However, today saw no sign of either of those. Under perfectly blue skies, British Airways wheeled out the new aircraft which in reality arrived…
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