American Airlines Invests In Refreshed Lounges With Table Service Dining

Most people may not know, but the first Airline lounge was actually created by American Airlines back in 1939. Since then, lounges have come full circle to be some of the most opulent and premium branded spaces around the world. It’s no surprise then that the founder of the airside lounge has decided to invest…

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British Airways Updates First Class Lounge At Heathrow

British Airways today announced the refurbishment to the airline’s First lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5 eligible to First customers and Gold Executive Club members. The announcement comes just weeks after the announcement of their new Singapore lounge design. The new interiors will include “new contemporary and stylish furniture throughout the lounge, plush new carpets, re-sanded, waxed…

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Going Behind The Scenes At Hornall Anderson For Their Alaska Rebrand

Alaska’s rebrand was well received when it was launched at the end of January with aviation fans (including us) around the world taking to the refreshed look. Sometimes though even a small shift in the look of an airline can take many months of painstaking work as historically speaking, liveries have to last decades, not years…

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Saudia Receive First 787 Dreamliners

Saudia this week received their first two 787-9 Dreamliners which is scheduled to start passenger operation in February. The new interiors are designed by Honour Branding, who also worked as part of the Etihad Design Consortium that brought the Etihad 787-9 Dreamliners to life (the only other Middle East carrier to currently operate the model).…

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XiamenAir Introduce New ‘Modern-Classic’ Uniforms

Starting this month passengers on XiamenAir may notice they are being served by cabin crew wearing entirely new threads. The new uniforms for men will join the women’s uniforms that were launched May last year. Designed by famous Taiwanese fashion designer Jamei Chen, the new male uniforms for include off tailored silhouettes that hark back to the JetSet…

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Qantas Offers Two New Australian Additions To Its Inflight Product

Qantas has just launched a brand new safety video that showcases Australia in all its natural glory. From an oxygen mask demonstration at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart to a life-jacket demonstration at Bondi Icebergs, the video will be introduced across Qantas’ domestic and international fleet from today, as well as featuring…

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SWISS Launch New Lounges And Show Off New 777

SWISS is the latest airline to take delivery of a brand new 777-300ER and yesterday they showed off the new aircraft to members of the media. Our reporter Sven Hennig was there to take a look at what we think is the latest ‘designer’ aircraft interior by London based Priestmangoode. In total, Swiss International Air Lines will…

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In Reflection: Cathay Dragon’s New Brand Is A Natural Evolution

Yesterday we announced that Dragonair was going to change its brand to Cathay Dragon in a bid to align itself with Cathay Pacific and while the general reaction has been similar to ours in thinking that the livery looks familiar to Qantas or Turkish Airlines (or at least from afar), we have taken a closer look…

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Cathay Pacific Rebrand DragonAir As “Cathay Dragon”

Cathay Pacific today announced that DragonAir will cease to exist, instead the sister airline to Cathay Pacific will be rebranded as Cathay Dragon. In a press release announced today, Cathay Pacific’s Chief Executive Ivan Chu said “In aligning the Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon brands, we will create a more seamless journey for customers, enabling us to…

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Alaska Launch Refreshed New Brand – And We Like It

Alaska Airlines revealed a brand new look to an airline brand that has remained virtually unchanged for 25 years. The new refreshed look comes a couple of years after the airline refreshed it’s iconic wordmark to make it more legible, removing the strikethrough that the letter K created. The new brand was launched in a maintenance…

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TAP Portugal Announce Identical Interiors To Sister Company Azul

TAP Portugal today hinted at a brand new future for their long haul fleet, based on two new A330 aircraft that will join the fleet. It is fairly easy to distill as the future vision of the rest of the long haul fleet. Visuals released yesterday match the exact photos used by Azul to showcase…

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The Best Of The Best In 2015 – TheDesignAir’s Round-up Of The Year

2015 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…

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ANA’s R2D2 Jet Uses The Force to Transport Stars Between The ‘Star Wars’ Premieres

The world went crazy this week as Star Wars Premiered in Los Angeles. Part of the action were ANA who’s partnership with the Star Wars franchise runs deep. The force certainly is strong with ANA. Japan’s largest airline shuttled the cast and crew of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens from the World Premiere in Hollywood on Monday…

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Alitalia Reveal New Medium Haul Aircraft Interiors

On December 5th, Alitalia welcomed its first new medium haul interior to match the new styling found in the airline’s long haul cabins. This starts  the major cabin refurbishment of Alitalia’s short and medium fleet of 96 aircraft has begun with the project earmarked for completion by April next year. On average four aircraft are going to…

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Etihad Opens New Lounge in New York JFK

On Wednesday, James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways officially opened the airline’s First and Business Class Lounge at JFK International Airport. Following Washington D.C. the new lounge is the second in the United States to join the airline’s collection of premium lounges offered worldwide for its guests. The new space is designed by…

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PNG Air Is The Latest Pacific Airline to Introduce New Livery And Brand

This may not be the most well-known airline internationally, but PNG Air certainly will be turning heads thanks to a new livery and brand developed by Principals Group, a brand strategy and identity company with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. Launched this month in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea (one of the most challenging…

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Hawaiian Airlines Hint At Refreshed Brand, Livery And Uniforms In Exclusive Interview With TheDesignAir

In the heart of Honolulu Airport, TheDesignAir talks exclusively with Avi Mannis at Hawaiian Airlines on their home turf, discussing the past, the future, brand and livery, plus what it means to be a truly successful ‘destination carrier’ The Roots of the Hawaiian Airlines Brand Sat in Hawaiian Airlines offices just on the edge of…

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Honolulu Fashion Week Takes A Back Seat – Literally

When Hawaiian Airlines rejuvenated the cabin of its Boeing B717 aircraft earlier this year with modern, lightweight seats by PaulWylde, the carrier was left with an up cycling opportunity. Hawaiian’s innovative solution will be on display to the public starting Friday at Honolulu Fashion Week, when the stylish garments and accessories made from the seat fabric will…

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Edelweiss Launch Updated Livery To Reflect New Product

This month, Edelweiss launched a brand new livery for their fleet of aircraft. The subtle change in the look supports the leading Swiss leisure travel airline’s growth, and underscores its origins as well as reflecting its more premium in-flight product. As well as the new aircraft design, Edelweiss will also modernise the interior of its entire Airbus A320…

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Cathay Pacific Launch New Taipei Lounge And Introduce New Solo Chair

Cathay Pacific today opened the long awaited lounge for passengers travelling out of Taiwan Taoyuen International Airport. Located at Level 4 in the Departure Hall of Terminal 1, the newly renovated Taipei lounge adopts the airline’s new lounge design ethos that has already won praise from passengers in other key Cathay Pacific destinations within the region…

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Emirates Launch Special Liveries To Support United For Wildlife

There is nothing quite like spotting new special liveries taking to the skies. Today marks two Emirates A380 jets taking to the skies this week, wearing special liveries in support of United for Wildlife, a global collaboration that unites the efforts of the world’s leading wildlife charities in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade.…

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TheDesignAir’s Top 10 Best Aviation Product Releases For 2015

2015 has been an impressive year for the aviation industry, with many carriers pulling up their socks and vying for the all-elusive lucrative passenger. With oil-prices lower than before, airlines are snapping at the opportunity to revisit their products, launch new aircraft and impress their paying consumers. This means one thing, a better experience for…

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Cathay Pacific Reveal New Livery To Match New Brand

Cathay Pacific today revealed their long awaited livery, which features a few simple changes to radically change their aircraft’s appearance. Designed in collaboration with design firm Eight Partnership, this new look new livery will be progressively introduced onto all the aircraft in its fleet. The livery was showcased on one of the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft at a special…

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SkyTeam Lounge At Hong Kong International Opens In Partnership With China Airlines And China Eastern

This week saw the opening of SkyTeam’s latest beautiful lounge in Hong Kong International Airport. This is the latest major SkyTeam lounge opening since Sydney earlier this year. The ‘Exclusive’ Lounge is the result of a partnership between China Airlines and China Eastern airlines. It is SkyTeam’s first VIP Lounge in the Greater China region and the…

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Launched This Month, Azul’s New A330 Cabins By Tangerine

Azul Brazilian Airlines, arguably the most modern of the Brazilian carriers, launched their new A330 cabins this October, including Azul Xtra (a fully fledged business class cabin), Economy Xtra (including the infamous Sky Sofa product) and their standard Economy cabin. Now flying to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale (Miami) from Sao Paulo’s Viracopos airport, Azul’s A330s will eventually…

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ANA Go Full Force With Their 787 Last Week In Brussels & Tatooine(?!)

Japanese carrier ANA have been having some fun with their 787 recently, both playing Star Wars with some avid sci-fi aficionados and also launching their new Brussels flight with a 787 service. On October 17, 2015, the R2-D2 ANA JET Fan Appreciation Flight event was held at Haneda Airport. A total of 91 passengers were selected—42 chosen from…

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British Airways Opens Latest Galleries Lounge in Singapore Designed By Graven

Changi Singapore has just welcomed a new lounge courtesy of design studio Graven. Housing the Concorde Lounge put together by Honour Branding that we covered earlier this month, this opening marks the eighth Lounge that Graven has designed for British Airways, in locations ranging from Edinburgh to Washington Dulles. Ross Hunter, Director at Graven said: “BA is one of…

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Hawaiian Airlines Deliver An Exceptional Premium Cabin

Watch out Fiji Airways, there is a new boutique airline vying for the attention of the Pacific. Hawaiian Airlines today revealed their plans to install a brand new lie-flat first class (or International business class) product that matches international business class standards. We are thrilled, as finally Hawaiian have concreted their position as the true owner of…

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Barbie & Ken Are Qantas’ Latest Crew – And They Are Looking Good!

Qantas may be 95 years old, but their latest models to grace the catwalk don’t look like they’ve aged in years. Qantas, as a pure bit of fun managed to showcase the historical uniforms of Qantas through the ages. The unique and slightly quirky pop-up exhibition at its Sydney Qantas Club featuring a collection of 44 Barbie and…

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SIA’s First A350 Rolls Out Paint Shop Ready For Amsterdam

Singapore Airlines is all about the A350 this week, as its first new aircraft rolled out of the paint shop in Toulouse, France. Singapore Airlines announced this week that Amsterdam will be the inaugural destination for its new-generation Airbus A350 fleet, with services expected to begin by April 2016. While we love the Singapore Airlines paint…

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