This week saw not only the partial-acquisition of ITA Airways by Lufthansa Group, but also the first of its 18 A330-900Neo aircraft which will form the backbone of its international fleet. The aircraft is the first to be fully realised with ITA Airways vision for the passenger experience, as the A350’s that are already flying…
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Hawaiian Airlines has finally introduced an elevated standard of leisure travel, inspired by early Polynesian voyages, with the unveiling of its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner interior and much anticipated new class of premium service – the Leihōkū Suites. Guests onboard Hawaiian’s 787 – entering service beginning early next year on select routes – will be immersed…
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At the Arabian Travel Market at the end of May, flydubai, the Dubai-based carrier, unveiled its latest premium business class seat, offering passengers added comfort, privacy and an exceptional onboard experience. It’s actually the third business class seat revealed by the carrier in almost as many years which vary from staggered recliner seats to fully…
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Etihad Airways used the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai to reveal the details behind its new 787 fleet which will supplement the existing long-haul fleet later this year. Instead of opting to continue the heavily customised Business Class seats that the airline currently operates across its 787’s and returning A380’s, Etihad opted for customised off-the-shelf…
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AirJapan revealed its Landor livery and brand last year, but not much was known about the brand beyond the exterior. Last week, however the airline revealed the carrier’s interior image and uniforms that will go some way in building the inflight passenger experience. AirJapan will be the new medium-haul international brand, as part of ANA,…
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It may not be first to the punch, but following on Lufthansa’s coattails, Swiss has revealed its own personalised ‘SWISS Senses’ air travel experience from 2025 onwards utilising exactly the same hardware as sister carrier Lufthansa. The centrepiece of the new customer product is a redesigned cabin for the airline’s long-haul aircraft fleet, which was…
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Lufthansa peeled back the curtain today on its new Allegris product, with a wide range of products now on offer across its future wide-bodied fleet. We’ve already covered most of this story here including the myriad of Business Class seating options that Allegris will be offering. However, perhaps the scene stealer today is Lufthansa’s First…
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Qantas has finally unveiled prototypes of the First and Business cabins on the aircraftthat will fly passengers non-stop from Australia to New York and London from late 2025 along with a detailed virtual reality fly-through render of the aircraft cabins. This comes shortly after news of a new First Class lounge that will open in…
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Now, Condor’s A330neo nautically business class might not be recent news, but social is finally buzzing around the airline’s decision to up-guage its front row of business class to a ‘Business Plus’ proposition. Dubbed ‘Prime Seats’, Condor’s front row of four seats are in effect ‘mini suites’ with a few hidden surprises that the airline…
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Kuwait Airways has recently announced a wave of enhancements across its passenger fleet on the A330-900neos as well as new uniforms, new routes and improvements to its lounge offering in Kuwait. While many of the improvements will only been see by a few travelling on the airline in the near future, one element will be…
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Air China has just revealed images of its new A350 interiors, which feature the Recaro CL6720 seat in Business Class, something we reported back in 2021. These new seats replace the existing Super Diamond seats found on the rest of the A350 fleet, with a more condensed seating LOPA, yet the additional benefit of privacy…
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British Airways announced that its 787-8 Dreamliners are the latest in the line to get some much needed love in regards to their business class product. While the majority of the fleet has already been updated, there’s still a few aircraft left with the original Yin-yang suites from the 2000’s, including the 787-8’s, 787-9’s and…
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Yesterday saw the very first of no less than 120 retrofitted aircraft take off from Dubai to London Heathrow. As part of a US$2billion upgrade program, EK003 heralds the start of a huge investment from Emirates to bring all of their A380s back to the skies, and – eventually – featuring the latest cabin products…
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Iberia is the first airline to take delivery of the new A350 cabins that feature ever-so-slightly wider cabins and new technologies that make the aircraft lighter and more advanced (such as greater flap settings and faster retracting landing gear), even though they look identical on the outside. However, on the inside, Iberia has opted to…
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For so many, the writing has been on the wall for First Class. After all, the gulf between First and Business Class was bridged by a wave of suites, fully flat beds and all-aisle access in the larger more affordable J class cabin. This means for many now, the upgrade to First Class simply meant…
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Award-winning Taiwanese carrier Starlux has just received its first of over a dozen new A350s, destined to start flying long-haul routes next year. As well as being the first carrier to have Airbus’ latest version of the XWB, which features an additional 4″ of internal width at the shoulder level and electronically tinted windows. While…
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I’ve been saying for a while that Etihad has been repositioning itself as the leader of boutique carriers. In fact, an impromptu conversation in my hotel bar last night with two Emirati ladies reaffirmed this belief, who excitingly dubbed the carrier as more ‘exclusive and chic’ than its larger, brasher, blingier, counterparts. It seems today…
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While Lufthansa had to quietly retreat from it’s questionable 5-star Skytrax rating just a few weeks ago, to a more understandable 4-star rating, it’s no surprise that the carrier is trying to pull out all the stops to re-energise interest in the carrier which has been marred recently by news of impending strikes. Yesterday Lufthansa…
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Passenger 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…
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The 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,…
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Launched today in London’s still-trendy Shoreditch, Virgin Atlantic’s new A330neo product should indeed turn heads. Launching a brand new product across a small yet nimble fleet usually means that the product offering becomes increasingly fragmented, but actually the airline has stumbled upon better synergies than ever on its Transatlantic offering. Introduced on Virgin Atlantic’s 16…
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Hangar 22 is Air New Zealand‘s moniker for its research lab, which has been working on the future of ultra-long haul cabins for no less than 5 years in a mirror effort to Qantas’s Project Sunrise. There’s good reason for Air New Zealand to invest heavily in a new product, as the airline will start…
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Herringbone and forward-facing staggered business class seats? The catalogue available to airlines is now seemingly never-ending, and the latest Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg this week has revealed how the industry has never been more spoiled for choice. Two of the latest entrants in to the market have come from Safran dubbed ‘VUE’ and ‘Unity’.…
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Condor wowed us recently with a bold new brand image. Some of you might have already seen these bold stripey aircraft in the skies, which are certainly standing out on airport aprons. In fact, the intended purpose to generate interest and awareness of the brand is working, with many images popping up on social media,…
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Friday saw the announcement that KLM will finally introduce its own Premium Economy product, bringing the carrier in line with Air France, Delta and Virgin Atlantic, its strategic partners. Dubbed Premium Comfort Class, the product sits above its economy comfort product which is fundamentally an economy seat with a little more legroom, and below the…
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Today saw Air France reveal a brand new Business Class product that will start to grace its 777-300ERs. It also revealed an exciting new ‘brand video’ to impart the new Air France brand to its global audience. At the heart of this regeneration lies its new business class seat, which is entirely new, although it…
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Etihad 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…
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As the world of wide-bodied cabin & seat design has reached a critical plateau, all eyes are turning to the new narrow-bodied long-haul market which will become an increasingly important part of point-to-point long-haul strategy in the months and years ahead. While the ‘Jet Set Era’ offered transcontinental flights on narrow-body aircraft decades ago, it…
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Today we were invited to see the grand official reveal of SWISS’ latest product in an arsenal of improvements over the past few years. While the airline started with a range of improvements to its ground product and older A340 fleet a few years ago, the airline’s new Premium Economy has been a few years…
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It’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…
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