It’s been a pretty big day for Australia, with international borders opened, Qantas starting the relaunch of its international network and also the day domestically Victoria-New South Wales borders have re-opened. To celebrate, rival Virgin Australia has given us a look at what its refurbished Melbourne Lounge will look like and unveiled a new and…
Read MoreThe aviation landscape in Australia may have shifted quite dramatically over the past few months, with new regional entrant Rex looking to take on Qantas on the main Melbourne – Sydney shuttle route and Virgin Australia re-emerging as a mid market carrier, and there’s even talk that Qantas isn’t taking project Sunrise off the table…
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 MoreNo1 Lounges seems to be getting deeper and deeper in to bed with airlines across the world, and has just launched its latest airport lounge partnership with Virgin Australia at Brisbane Airport’s International Terminal. This follows the opening of The House at Sydney and Melbourne in 2018 and their pre-existing partnership with Etihad. The new lounge…
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 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 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 MoreUnless you have been living under a rock today you will already have seen the new business class product for British Airways, dubbed the ‘Club Suite.’ The new suite brings a range of improvements to the passenger experience including all-aisle access, more storage, larger IFE screens and even doors, offering even more privacy, similar to…
Read MoreTheDesignAir is pleased to announce the shortlist for the DesignAir Awards 2017 and just like last year, we’ve opened some of the categories to the public, so you can vote for the winners. Now is your chance to pick from our shortlisted categories for Best Design Airline, by region, across the globe. All it takes…
Read MoreTheDesignAir is thrilled to announce the 2019 award winners as voted for by our esteemed judging panel and our readers. Year after year, we see more improvements and enhancements across the passenger experience, from narrow to wide bodies to lounges and airports around the globe. We showcase the 2019 winners here.
Read MoreHot off the heels of their A330 refresh, Virgin Australia today unveiled its new International Business Class cabin, with the first of its refitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft now flying across the Pacific. This comes after their announcement of the refresh back in 2014. “The airline’s flagship Business Class product ‘The Business’, new Business Class Bar…
Read MoreDelta recently announced it will be moving its operations to Terminal 2 and 3 in LAX from May 12th. It will be one of the largest terminal moves in the history of commercial aviation, but the benefits seem to outweigh the temporary inconveniences. The move is the start of a larger expansion and improvement plan for…
Read MoreVirgin Australia have released some very basic images of a new premium economy seat product which will be unveiled on their 777 later on this year. Whist the actual hard product is still under wraps, the actual statistics are what are a little more interesting. The airline has increased its seat pitch to a generous…
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 More2015 has been an impressive year with many carriers taking advantage of the lowered oil prices to invest heavily into their passenger experience both on the ground and in the air. We take a look at the best carriers around the world that have caught our attention this year. We offer a retrospective of the…
Read MoreThis month we cover 2015’s Top 10 Premium Economy Classes. Investing more into their new mid-cabin classes, airlines are fighting to offer passengers extra elements to lift the experience—on the ground and in the air. With Singapore Airlines entering the fray this year, the list is open to change as we continue to review the world’s very best Premium Economy Classes.…
Read MoreThis month we celebrate all things fashion. Our Top 10 airline uniforms for 2015 are a real feast for the eyes. This is one category where product from 40 years ago is still pitched against the very latest products on the market, and some of these products really do stand the test of time. We…
Read MoreWe love it when airlines compete against each other to fight for passengers. The end result is a better experience for the travellers. Virgin Australia today announced their brand new business product which will start being rolled out early next year for both domestic and international routes on their wide body fleet. The familiar reverse…
Read MoreThis week saw Cathay, Qantas and British Airways launch a wave of new flights, adding options and increasing the oneworld global network. British Airways has added to its Gatwick leisure network by introducing Toronto and re-establishing Las Vegas in direct competition to Virgin Atlantic’s city pair. This now means BA serves Las Vegas from both…
Read MoreYes, that’s right, it’s not Air Canada, It’s actually WestJet’s impressive (If somewhat familiar looking) new business class cabin that will be rolled out in early 2019 on the airline’s new 787 Dreamliner fleet which will feature an updated and slick new livery. “The introduction of Boeing’s 787-9 Dreamliner, a state-of-the-art aircraft, is the dawn…
Read MoreAlthough we announced the introduction of this seat almost a year ago today, the final touches have finally been completed and the newest business class seating was showcased today to the media. The Thomson Vantage XL seat has been fully customised to offer Qantas passengers the very best in comfort and technology. In a world…
Read MoreWe haven’t covered much on Virgin Australia recently. Our bad. However, we couldn’t help but fall in love with their new Melbourne Lounge that has been open a little over a week. Taking 6 months to renovate the previous lounge space, they have managed to double the size and give the whole venue a slick,…
Read MoreOur TheDesignAir Top 10 lists have undergone a revamp in 2014, and to aid transparency, our top 10 airlines will now have their rating out of 100 shown, as voted for and calculated by our judging panel. This month we cover our top 10 premium economy classes. With airlines investing more into their new mid-cabin classes, competition is…
Read MoreThere’s a lot of talk about the nostalgia of the “Golden Age of Travel”, glorified by shows like Pan Am where we see passengers sipping on whiskeys and Martinis as they jetted across the Atlantic, reclined in large recliner seats, dressed impeccably. The warm fuzzy memory of the JetSet era – with the likes of…
Read MoreOur TheDesignAir Top 10 lists have undergone a revamp in 2014, and to aid transparency, our top 10 airlines will now have their rating out of 100 shown, as voted for and calculated by our judging panel. What is interesting for our Top 10 International business classes 2014 is the wide ranging percentage scores within the top…
Read MoreWe are great fans of Marc Newson and what he is achieving at Qantas with regards to design. The lounges in Sydney are spectacular (and won our Top 10 Lounges last year) and his attempts at pulling the fleet into the 21st century have been very successful. (perhaps in part due to the competition arisen…
Read MoreStreuth! It’s hard not to report about the Virgin group of airlines right now, as they just keep on doing things right. We, here at TheDesignAir love this brand new commercial from Virgin Australia. Turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy! Slick, clean, and super retro, they are really trying to hark back to the…
Read MoreAir Canada has announced an amazing 458 seat configuration 77w coming on the line in July this year, including a new premium economy product, something we announced back in May last year. The airline has really stepped up their offering (thankfully), providing a European style cabin to compete with the slightly inferior north American counterparts. We…
Read MoreVirgin Australia have been busy recently and have just released images of their new domestic A330 fleet operating both the Syndey-Perth and Melbourne-Perth routes. This comes just over a week after releasing news of them updating the interiors of their 777 cabins for their trans-pacific flights. As designed by Brand Director, Hans Hulsbosch, Virgin Australia has…
Read MoreVirgin Australia have been trying to bring all their historic sub brands into line, and this latest development in their fleet has brought the Old V Australia brand into line with the rest of their fleet. A new leaf motif has been injected into the cabin, through the seats and carpet, and has been led…
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