Qatar Airways is seen as one of the ‘true’ Five Star airlines in the world and it has worked hard over the past decade to position itself as a true luxury carrier. At the heart of its recent efforts is the airline’s QSuite, a Flagship product that only a few carriers have managed to surpass…
Read MoreIn traditional Qatar Airways style, the airline doesn’t hold back when it comes to a celebration. In honour of the Chinese New Year, the airline has introduced an oriental inspired menu on board flights to popular Asia destinations between 11 and 12 February 2021. In Qatar Airways’ Doha Al Mourjan Business Lounge, passengers will also…
Read MoreQatar Airways has always ensured its soft product is one of the best in the skies, so there’s no surprise it’s now partnered with French maison parfumerie Diptyque as part of the airline’s offering for First Class and Business Class passengers – both on board and in its premium lounges around the world. The airline…
Read MoreTomorrow, Qatar Airways will see the first flight by its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner passenger aircraft, featuring its much anticipated new Adient Aerospace ‘Ascent’ Business Class Suite. The aircraft will operate on a number of key routes to Europe and Asia, starting with its Doha to Milan service followed by Doha to Athens, Barcelona, Dammam,…
Read MoreFor the foreseeable future, we’re going to be seeing fewer special liveries while airlines try to save cash and focus on a service return, so those rare few that do roll out will certainly garner some attention now. Qatar Airways is one of the first in this period to reveal a special livery, and naturally,…
Read MoreQatar Airways has adapted its health and safety measures onboard by introducing new personal protective equipment for both customers and cabin crew, which increase the protection for passengers and bring the crew protection in line with (if not more than) other global airlines. The airline’s latest measures include offering face shields (rather than masks) and…
Read MoreQatar Airways officially opened its new Premium Lounge at Singapore Changi Airport at Terminal 1, and wanted to show it some love, opening it on Valentines Day, this month.According to the airline, the new Singapore lounge “serves as the benchmark and blueprint for Qatar Airways’ future Premium Lounges worldwide,” however it features many of the…
Read More2020 has seen the rule book thrown out of the window. Carriers that have adapted quickly will see the largest market share in 2021. While many airlines continue to struggle just to survive day-to-day, some have taken this as an opportunity to level the playing field. While clear regional battles are at play across Asia,…
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 MoreQatar Airways passengers travelling on the carrier’s long-haul flights in both First Class and Business Class are being presented once again with BRIC’s limited edition pink themed amenity kits during the month of October, marking the airline’s annual support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The exclusive amenity kits are kind to the planet too. Made…
Read MoreAfter a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, TheDesignAir is pleased to announce the return of its annual Airline Design awards. Celebrating the very best in airline passenger experience, brand and design across the globe, the awards – now in its 9th year – have once again bestowed its leading design airlines, new products and…
Read MoreFly better. That’s Emirates‘ marketing slogan. It’s the same marketing campaign that has featured the likes of Jennifer Anniston, onboard bars, showers, all-aisle access and swathes of space. The problem is, Emirates has – since the A380 entered its fleet – offered two products, a 777 and A380 business class product that couldn’t be more…
Read MoreLike many things in the aviation industry, there are always one or two major suppliers in most cases dominating the industry, whether its Boeing or Airbus, Rolls Royce or GE and within business class seats let’s face it, Collins Aerospace or Safran, but there are just as capable competitors on the fringe. Recaro and Thompson…
Read MoreLet’s face it, airline cabins are becoming more and more familiar, the day of being surprised when walking onboard is almost over. The era of innovation that saw all-aisle access, private suites, and fully flat beds in business class – which first blossomed some twenty years ago – has seemingly settled into a plateau that…
Read MoreWhile the team are doing their bit to help fight this pandemic and staying indoors, it’s also making us a little stir crazy as our wings have been clipped, at least for the coming weeks or months. Like many others out there, we’ve been finding ourselves going through our archives, going online and longing for…
Read MoreQatar Airways has launched its latest range of First Class and Business Class amenity kits. Created by BRIC’s, the new amenity kits will be distributed to passengers in on long-haul and ultra-long-haul flights. The new collection of BRIC’s amenity kits includes designs and contents created for both male and female passengers and feature the same…
Read MoreThe new incarnation of Virgin Australia has continued its previous tradition of offering a very special lounge to its most prestigious guests. Today saw the curtain lift on the airline’s long-awaited invitation-only private ‘Beyond Lounges’ in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, reserved for corporate partners, some high-status Velocity Frequent Flyer members and key opinion leaders throughout…
Read MoreYesterday saw American Airlines announce a relatively needed and long-awaited refresh to its interiors programme. Bringing its long-haul and premium narrow-body cabins a whole new look was expected, and after United and Delta had rolled out its own signature Polaris and One products, American needed to step up to the mark. While the new cabins…
Read MoreUnless you’ve had your head under a rock, you might have noticed that airlines are struggling to survive right now. Their entire model is based on free movement between destinations, a right that has since been rescinded by the global governments who are trying to get a grip on the pandemic. As such, airlines are…
Read MoreBritish Airways recently announced the retirement of its Elemis spas, one of the crowning unique features of their Heathrow lounges. Taking their place and replacing the older business centres – in a bid to offer something to passengers – is the new ’Forty Winks’ nap lounge, featuring power nap sleep pods. The new pods are…
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 MoreWe’ve been drowning in a sea of short-term hygiene messages across the last year as airlines have rapidly ‘masked up’ in order to win over what little passenger volume there has been. Today’s passengers have been assaulted by marketing imagery of planes being scrubbed within an inch of their life, crew in body suits and…
Read MoreIt’s long been established in scientific fields that memories, emotions, and senses are all tied together. The same region of the brain that processes the five senses is also partly responsible for storing emotional memories. In the airline field, that means passengers are more likely to remember and build brand memories that tie in all five senses…
Read MoreVistara was one of the last airlines we covered pre-lockdown who received a brand new jet. The carrier’s 787 certainly showed this airline meant business and its latest arrival, a brand new Airbus A321neo shows Vistara is living up to its promises. The aircraft – which is part of a hefty order of 50 from…
Read MoreQatar Airways and Hamad International Airport have just announced plans for the second expansion phase in Doha. HIA’s expansion project will include a fairly grand 10,000 square metre indoor tropical garden in a central concourse as well as a 268 square metre water feature which will be the focal point of the expansion project. The…
Read MoreOver the past few years Gulf Air has managed to really shake off its tired products of the past and reposition itself as a boutique carrier that gives the ME3 a run for their money. The 787 product is certainly stunning, and we thought that in many ways, thanks to their smaller more intimate cabins,…
Read MoreIt’s rare to find innovation in Business Class products in the past few years. Since the likes of Singapore Airlines’ new monocoque seats and Qatar Airways QSuites, many carriers are opting to customise off the shelf products, which naturally bring tried-and-tested comfort, but will never advance the passenger experience the same way that a truly…
Read MoreBritish Airways is having a tough time at the moment, like many airlines around the world, however the narrative of late has been surrounding job cuts, legal cases and because it has lagged behind other carriers in some of its communications, some rather frustrated customers who feel the airline has been utilising the pandemic as…
Read MoreHot on the heels of its Vantage Solo design (now being manufactured by Thompson Aero Seating), London-based Factorydesign has revealed details about its mid-market hybrid business class seat for narrow body long-haul aircraft. Trying to navigate the economics and ergonomics of a premium product on a narrow body aircraft proves one of the most difficult…
Read MoreWhile we often focus on the hard and soft product from the eyes of an adult, its still important to see that airlines are focussing on their most demanding passenger demographic, children. Qatar Airways has just launched its Oryx Kids Club On-Board Children’s Programme, offering an enhanced experience for its youngest travellers by providing them with…
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