Sometimes we see concepts that are so far fetched come across our desks here at TheDesignAir that we know they just simply won’t take flight, but the latest concept that has landed here has certainly piqued our interest. Brought to life by David Caon’s design studio (the very same designer who has his fingerprint all…
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Let’s be honest, we’ve been doing the same thing for almost a century. We get on an aircraft that has the same key features, a metal tube with a front and a back and seats in between. It’s been the formula that new aircraft have followed for decades. But as our understanding of aerodynamics increase,…
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Let’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…
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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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With some 6000+ narrow-body and regional jets in the US alone, there is a huge market for ‘domestic First Class’ still, and competition is heating up at the front of the plane. Delta has just shown off its new First Class product, first announced in 2020, and the MiQ seats are starting to become commonplace…
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Most people will have flown on a Vantage product at some point if they’ve flown business class in the past decade, and the VantageXL is the flagship version, which has been adopted by the likes of Qantas, SAS, Delta and Philippine Airlines over the years. Understanding that passenger habits and needs have adapted in the…
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Etihad has been looking to find an ecological solution to its inflight service for some time. Over the past few years the airline has been at the forefront of experimental eco-flights with everything from zero-plastic long-haul journeys to new technologies to rid the world of vapour-trails. However, the latest developments will be a welcome addition…
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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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United Airlines, now profitable once again has firmly set its stall as a leading Passenger Experience airline, vying for market dominance through modern, comfortable cabins that give passengers what they want: more space, more entertainment and more choice. This is something we applaud and have been promoting as the right approach to winning over customer…
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United Airlines has brought a little bit of future optimism to the aviation industry once again today with the announcement of a commercial agreement with Denver-based aerospace company Boom Supersonic to add aircraft to its global fleet as well as a cooperative sustainability initiative – a move that facilitates a leap forward in returning supersonic…
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The partnership between Rolls-Royce and airframer Tecnam was announced last year, however they’ve just connected the dots, expanding on Rolls-Royce 2019 partnership with Widerøe. Their combined goal is to deliver an all-electric passenger aircraft for Widerøe, the largest regional airline in Scandinavia, and a plan to enter revenue service in 2026. The idea of electric aircraft…
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A little while ago, JPA Design announced a new type of Business Class seat, which on the surface may look like just another seat, but thanks to its partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering and SWS, the skin-deep appearance is anything but. Not only does the product learn from current design trends, it embraces lightweight technology,…
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JetBlue has been long touting its desire to compete on the Transatlantic market. With the recent exit of Norwegian’s long haul operations, there’s certainly a slot to be filled in competitively priced disrupters, and JetBlue has jumped at the opportunity. However, it certainly means business, trying to take a slice of the highly lucrative Transatlantic…
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Virtual reality has been around for a while, its use however within the aviation sector is increasing. Many design studios now have adopted this way of modelling cabin interiors and seat designs to expedite the creative process and visualise the end product with a high quality interactive render. There is clear benefit on both sides…
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You might have seen in the news, that airlines are increasingly turning to UV (and in particular UVC) to sanitise their fleets. Only in the past few weeks JetBlue adopted a new trolley-based light sanitisation station that’s wheeled through the cabin to disinfect the cabin in approximately 10 minutes. Why UV light? While UVA and…
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When it comes to personal hygiene kits, Etihad is one of the first airlines to offer a unique, upgraded proposition for its First and Business Class guests, which also includes a snood-style face mask for use throughout their journey and beyond. The soft reusable snood has been treated with MicrobeBARRIER™ fabric treatment, a broad spectrum antimicrobial…
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Meet Pure Skies, PriestmanGoode’s answer to the future of flight, responding to the recent curve ball Covid-19 threw at cabin designers of today. The London-based design studio created a new design concept to support the future success of the aviation industry – understanding that a clean slate is needed to bring confidence back to the…
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With such a fast changing narrative around Coronavirus it’s difficult for airlines to plan for a post-Covid future. From social distancing to personal shields, designers have been supporting airlines across the globe, working quickly to help navigate the scale and impact of such a widespread pandemic. Most solutions created have answered a problem, whether it’s…
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Etihad Airways is the latest airline to announce its wellness strategy to rebuild confidence and increase reassurance. Dubbed ‘Etihad Wellness’, the carrier has outlined its expanded and more comprehensive health and hygiene programme in an accessible customer guide. In a direct response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the programme will be championed by the introduction of specially…
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This time, the latest Design Thinking result from Covid-19 has come from United Airlines. The carrier delivered 7,500 face coverings over the past week to front line employees at San Francisco International Airport and maintenance base, but instead of shipping them from abroad, United were pleased to announce that the masks were made from 12,284…
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The idea of personal transport is certainly not new, and we’ve seen Uber concepts and real life flying taxis being trialled in Dubai, but to celebrate its 50th birthday, Embraer has given us a taste of how it sees us travelling in 50 years’ time. ‘The Pulse Concept’ is inspired by the first-ever concept car…
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While WHO’s recommendation to reduce the spread of a virus is through the alteration of passenger behaviour and that actually aircraft – with their HEPA filtration and regular cleaning – are relatively clean already; there’s still passenger perception to overcome which is sometimes deeply rooted in emotional based reasoning rather than scientifically proven facts. It’s…
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Air 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,…
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This week saw British Airways launch new products for those in the front and the back of the plane. For those in then pointy end, flying from San Francisco and Newark can now enjoy made-to-order cocktails, in just 45 seconds thanks to an automated cocktail maker. Now, while BA doesn’t offer Bartenders in the same…
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London-based creative firm New Territory has just revealed details of its new spin-off company ‘Universal Movement’ to address the lack of innovation within high density seating on aircrafts and in other transportation environments. Universal Movement’s launch includes the announcement of its first project, Interspace, an innovative approach to the traditional airline seat which utilises a…
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Austrian Airlines has just launched an innovative 3D Seatmap as part of the booking process. While the technology is nothing new, the ability to use the platform as part of the booking and seat selection process, is. From now on, Austrian Airlines passengers on flights operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft can virtually discover their favorite…
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London-based design studio Priestmangoode has just opened a ‘Get Onboard: Reduce. Reuse. Rethink’ exhibition at the Design Museum in London. As we just highlighted in our questions surrounding amenity kits, there is an increasing movement to explore ways that we can use design thinking and material innovation to address the vast issue of waste in travel,…
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Airbus has unveiled a stunning conceptual design for a new airliner that pushes the boundaries of technology and innovation with its bird-like appearance, created to inspire a new generation of aeronautical engineers. The design isn’t just a flight of fancy though, dubbed the ‘Bird of Prey’ due to wing and tail structures which mimic those…
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We are in awe by the latest developments at ANA (All Nippon Airways). The airline has just announced its collaboration with famed architect Kengo Kuma and leading British designers Acumen to roll out a total of twelve completely redesigned Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in time for the Tokyo 2020 games. The first redesigned (premium-heavy) aircraft will…
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Recently, Etihad Airways completed a single-use plastic-free flight from Abu Dhabi to Brisbane to highlight the issues the industry faces when it comes to sustainability. But instead of this being a one-off stunt, it has actually turned into a learning curve with many of the disciplines being rolled out across the airline, a carrier fast becoming one…
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