So if you haven’t heard about the fairly radical new uniform for Virgin America, being launched across their fleet 8th August this year, here’s a cool behind the scenes look at their new uniform, designed by San Fran neighbours Banana Republic. It’s great to see the attention of detail that goes into the design of…
Read MoreThai Totally Get It Right
Whilst this image of the freshly painted Thai A380 might not generate a huge fanfare of a reaction, it is within that reasoning I feel Thai have got their paintjob of the A380 absolutely right. Comparing the image of the A380 to the 747 below you’ll see a few minor, but very clever changes. The…
Read MoreHello Bright Young Thing
California Pacific Airlines might be a little upstart airline in the Californian sun compared to its rather large legacy competitors, however, the Californian’s do like the underdog. And with that in mind, look at how big Apple is today… perhaps this airline with very small roots could shoot up to become a bit of a…
Read MoreNo1 Traveller Brings Luxury To Birmingham
Birmingham airport will be the home to a new luxury lounge, created by the super cool business lounge experts ‘No.1 Traveller‘. In October this year they will be bringing their brand of super cool relaxation and comfort to the ever expanding international airport in the Midlands of England. This is No.1 Traveller’s first lounge outside…
Read MoreLas Vegas New Terminal Draws In New Passengers
Las Vegas is the proud owner of a brand new terminal. An architectural modern cube of a terminal to be honest. This modest $2.4 billion addition gives McCarran International Airport 14 brand new gates open to both international and domestic flights. Totalling over 1.9million square feet, Terminal 3 is a state of the art building with…
Read MoreScoot Reveal Their Real Livery
So. Here it is, after my first post, the much anticipated big bird. Yellow is the colour of the day with Scoot. Large swooshes of yellow flow across the 777 they are using for their low cost long haul route network. Whilst I’m trying to remain fully objective over this, I can’t help but cringe…
Read MoreViva Aerobus… No Wait… Viva Colombia!
Spot the difference… Yes! you are right. The second plane is different… a 737 (737-300) compared to the Airbus. (well… if you are colour blind that would be the only difference…) In all seriousness though Viva Colombia will be launching in a few days time from it’s base in Medelín, Colombia. The fact the two…
Read MoreWorld’s Largest Flying Fish Takes To The Skies Again
We’ve had doves, giant ladies in bikinis and even killer whales gracing the air, and now Alaska Airlines‘ big old flying fish is coming back to the skies later this year. The largest flying (and perhaps only flying) salmon is being painted on the side of a 737-800 a longer airframe compared to the predecessor fish which…
Read MoreVirgin Atlantic Switches Airplane Mode Off
“Hello Mum? Yes, it’s me. I’m on the plane. I’ll be 30 minutes early.” Yes. It’s official, Virgin Atlantic have decided that mobile phone calls are a good idea in the plane, making themselves a British leader once again in aviation. Whilst this is a relatively new trend to travellers it will be interesting to…
Read MoreMais Airlines Retro-tastic Livery
There is something quite charming about looking at the new Mais Lineas Aereas livery on their Fokker 100 fleet. It’s like stepping back in time wearing that favourite retro t-shirt you have washed too many times so it’s shrunk in the wash but can’t let go of. For me, it’s like looking at the DC9 or…
Read MoreHawaiian Airlines Offers A Real Pacific Network
Hawaiian Airlines released news of their 4th Japanese route, to Sapporo, this month (subject to approval) and this makes the airlines latest addition to their large Asia network expansion since the launches of Tokyo in November 2010, Seoul in January 2011, and Osaka in July 2011 and recently Fukuoka in April 2012. Hawaiian now have 6 sparkly new Airbus A330’s in their fleet now,…
Read MoreEven More Opportunity To Use The New Virgin JFK Clubhouse
Virgin Atlantic released today they are putting VS026/027 into service operating the ever popular NY-LON route from LHR to JFK. Commencing on 28th October, the fourth daily service between JFK and LHR offers the perfect excuse to try the new super cool JFK Clubhouse whilst either popping into Manhattan or gracing Bond Street in London for…
Read MoreHigh Flying With High Definition On FlyDubai
Whilst most folk feel they need an eye test after a long flight watching movies on a blurry back seat IFE TV screen, FlyDubai have launched their fibre optic solution to the eye-rubbing in-flight entertainment scenario. Their new ‘enhanced’ touchscreen IFE uses fibre optic technology, first seen in November last year, providing a faster system…
Read MoreQatar’s Ever Expanding Plan
Qatar Airways, a 5 star airline that truly deserves its airline ranking, seems to be really pushing forward with an aggressive expansion plan. Today, May 2nd 2012, marks a USD$2billion investment from Qatar into the New Doha International Airport, as the country looks to expand the airport to cope with the constant increase in growth…
Read MoreREPORT: Is Print Dying?
Whilst this pretty nifty (if not shouty!) video might appear somewhat self-serving considering its creator is Ink, the world’s largest inflight magazine producer, they do highlight an interesting topic in aviation right now. Is the in-flight magazine dying? Apparently not if this months Aeroflot magazine is to be taken seriously weighing in at a whopping…
Read MoreVirgin Australia Reveal New A330 Domestic Interior
Virgin 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 MoreLufthansa’s New Project Direct 4 You
Whilst this hasn’t been officially released by Lufthansa, German newspaper Bild has reported through sources close to the airline that they are planning on launching a new low-cost unit (similar to the recent launch of IAG’s Iberia’s new Iberia Express) The new airline has been dubbed ‘Direct 4 You’ and will basically be an amalgamation of Germanwings…
Read MoreLondon’s ‘Newest’ Airport Gets Bigger and Better
London Southend, (in the UK) which had a re-launch earlier this month as a London airport that is to be taken seriously, just got given the go-ahead to extend its terminal by a further 90 meters. Whilst this doesn’t sound much, for a smaller airport like this, it will give the airport a chance to…
Read MoreThomson’s New Cabin Is A ‘Dream’
Thomson have revealed their new cabin and livery for the new 787 Dreamliner which will come into service early 2013 with the airline. This new livery hopefully will get rolled out across the rest of the fleet and I have to say, it’s really quite beautiful. The flowing lines naturally rolling over the wingbox give…
Read MoreIs First Class Dying Off?
On the following day of the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s updated premium product ‘Dream Suite‘ comes news from troubled Lufthansa of a different nature. In an effort to try and become more efficient, curb spending and reign in the purse strings after a less than successful stint of turning bmi around, they are going to…
Read MoreUnited Look To Confuse Us Further With Even More Travel Options
Before the merger of United and Continental, United offered a plethora (not often I get to use that word!) of bolt-on options for your flight, from sending your luggage before you, to extra leg room, lounge access, priority security clearance, priority check in. These are apparently great revenue streams for the airline, all which have…
Read MoreLuxury Just Became More Luxurious
If you happen to have a wallet the size of an American State, you may be interested to see their latest BBJ that rolled out the factory recently. The Boeing BBJ uses a 737-700 frame with -800 wings to create an extra long range product that is more hotel than plane. With the interior put…
Read MoreThomson Launch Their First 787 Route
Thomson, the first UK 787 operator, has announced its first 787 routes to Cancun in Mexico and Sanford in Florida. It is allowing the whole country to enjoy the flights, flying from not one, but four UK airports, Gatwick, East Midlands, Manchester and Glasgow. Thomson have got some great things planned for the plane including…
Read MoreChecking In To The Virgin Atlantic HQ
Virgin Atlantic is the epitome of cool. It’s the one airline we all associate with being sexy and slick, and whilst Crawley might not be THE destination that everyone cool wants to go to, Virgin have made it a design mecca that we all want to visit. Home of the Virgin Atlantic HQ, the newly…
Read MoreAnd The Eyes Have It.
Just when you thought your in-flight experience couldn’t get any more hi-tech, both Panasonic and Thales are bringing out a new ‘sci-fi’ user interface to try and enhance our in-flight experience. Perhaps off the back of the new X-Box Kinect technology, it seems that the ‘Minority Report’ way of interacting with computers is actually going…
Read MoreCould This Be The New Virgin Upper Class ‘Dream Suite’?
Direct from the US patent office, these schematics have been applied for by Virgin Atlantic, could this be their new seat. Nothing radical here from their previous offering, however it seems a little more streamlined around the head area than the previous suite. This could reduce the comfort slightly, but also provide a larger sense…
Read MoreEmirates New Movement “Hello Tomorrow”
Emirates has launched a new global brand direction, titled “Hello Tomorrow”, which now offers a new brand promise as the company continues its evolution from a travel brand to a global lifestyle brand. Further from Emirates, the new theme is “designed for the age of consumer engagement and empowerment, the new ad campaign is about inspiring…
Read MoreTheDesignAir Top 10 Liveries 2012
10. Tahiti Nui This livery is great in it’s natural habitat of the colours of the pacific. It’s a naturally warm and modern livery that encapsulates the natural wonders of the Pacific islands. It has clean bold lines and shapes that elegantly follow the shape of the plane whilst also incorporating more fluid and subtle…
Read MoreKLM to reinvent World Business Cabin
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has asked leading Dutch designer Hella Jongerius to revitalize its World Business Class cabin interior across the fleet. This will enable KLM to modernize its WBC product, uniting international allure with top Dutch design to emphasize a sense of pride in our Dutch heritage. “By choosing to work with Hella Jongerius,…
Read MoreThe British Airways Olympic Dove
British Airways recently revealed it’s special livery for the 2012 Olympics. It’s going to be painted on to 9 A319’s and will be used to celebrate the games. This was a winning entry by Pascal Anson, as part of BA’s ‘Great Britons’ competition to get the best in unknown art, food and film to work…
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