Flight: CI063 Aircraft Type: A350-900 Class: Business Class Route: TPE-VIE Date: March 2017 http://www.china-airlines.com China Airlines last year won two awards from us for their formidable turn-around of their inflight and ground product, especially in business class. Their A350-900 is the latest aircraft to join the fleet and features their brand new Business Class product, based on Ray Chen’s design found…
Read More
First, let us start by saying, we welcome – nay applaud – investment into a new Club World product for British Airways. The past few months and steerage of new CEO Alex Cruz has seen consistent cuts to the product, at a time when it needed serious investment. Ticket prices have been constantly higher than…
Read More
Flight: AF1681 Aircraft Type: B787-9 Class: Business Class Route: LHR-CDG Date: March 2017 http://www.airfrance.com Air France started flying their 787-9 between CDG and LHR earlier this year, training staff on the aircraft before it commences its long haul duties. While only a short hop across the English Channel, it gives passengers a chance to experience the new product before committing…
Read More
In a continued drive to tackle the imposed electronic ban on certain flights to the UK and the US, airlines are working around the issue of bringing aboard nothing larger than a smart phone in a myriad of ways. Turkish Airlines has quickly adopted a simple fix, similar to Emirates, by allowing passengers to use…
Read More
High-density premium seating is where it is at this year, and tangerine‘s new ‘Adagio’ seat for Aviointeriors is the epitome of this new trend. While the market for fully-flat seats has taken a few years to mature and settle, industrial designers are constantly making small changes to perfect the model from a cost, LOPA and passenger…
Read More
Hawaiian Airlines has just revealed its long-awaited A321Neo interior. Designed by London based JPA, the new space has been created to “evoke the natural splendour of Hawai‘i through colour and form, bringing the outdoors in and extending ‘island time’ from the moment a guest steps onboard.” The cabin takes colour palette cues from the new A330 interiors, which…
Read More
While Business Class and First Class seats can flaunt a wealth of bolt-ons and differences from their competitors – from sliding doors to fully flat beds – the sheer scale and economics of the economy cabins means that the product cannot really change very far from the product set we’ve seen in the skies for…
Read More
Japan Airlines is the latest airline to invest in new amenity kits for their first class passengers. The new kits will feature on all International First Class routes, starting today, March 28, 2017. Porsche Design, the designer label that created the new kit, isn’t new to the airline industry, they’ve already worked with Malaysia Airlines in the…
Read More
Alaska Airlines have just announced that they will form a combined carrier, as the company solidifies its status as the West Coast’s premier airline. While sadly the Virgin America brand will be absorbed by Alaska Airlines, the partnership seems to have rubbed off on the longer-lasting of the two carriers. There’s still a good amount…
Read More
For those who’ve been living under a rock over the last week, you may not know about the electronics ban that is effecting certain airlines from certain countries flying to the US and the UK. While this is for ‘security reasons’, it’s certainly going to effect passengers, especially those travelling in business, who can use…
Read More
Delta 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 More
IAG launched its new airline yesterday. Called ‘Level’ the airline will be based in Barcelona, also home to IAG partner airline, Vueling. The announcement showcased the new interiors, brand positioning and livery. Level’s brand language approaches younger, more inquisitive travellers that have possibly been restricted by cost of long-haul travel. The visual palette reflects an…
Read More
Two years in the making, the brand new collection of Alessi Serviceware for Delta’s multiple premium cabins has been revealed. One part of Delta’s multi-billion dollar investment into the passenger experience, the new range of designer flatware, cutlery and glasses will be unique to the airline. Appearing onboard 1st April 2017, the design process started…
Read More
TAP Portugal is fast becoming a true contender for European Business Class travellers. The latest announcement sees the first A330-900neo aircraft being fitted entirely with Recaro aircraft seats. For those in the pointy end, passengers will be able to enjoy Recaro’s CL6710 seats, featuring fully flat beds. “In addition to ergonomic comfort, the CL6710 stands out…
Read More
Next week sees the doors open to Qantas‘ latest lounge in Brisbane, Australia. The domestic lounge is the latest addition to a multi-million pound upgrade at the airport. The upgrade began in October 2016 with the opening of a new International Lounge and will be completed in the coming months with an upgraded Qantas Club and new Chairmans…
Read More
At ITB Yesterday, Qatar Airways proudly launched its much anticipated new Business Class product. It has certainly impressed the public with its claims to have the world’s first double bed in business class, new sharing plate concept, sliding doors for privacy and large communal area for families of four. Don’t get us wrong, we are…
Read More
Yesterday saw the joint launch of a new modular passenger transport concept from Airbus and Italdesign at Geneva’s 87th International Motor Show. ‘Pop.Up’ – as it has been dubbed – is a fully electric, zero emission concept vehicle system designed to relieve traffic congestion in crowded megacities. “Pop.Up envisages a modular system for multi-modal transportation that makes…
Read More
Meet the world’s first Flying Honu. As part of ANA’s competition to design a special one off livery for their new A380, the winner has been selected to celebrate the Tokyo-Honolulu route that the aircraft will fly. The design will see the largest possible animal painted on a plane, far larger than the Alaska Airlines…
Read More
Regular visitors of TheDesignAir may know that we are big fans of the Soneva Group. We’ve also been lucky enough to experience all three properties. While Soneva is the equivalent to Singapore Airlines in the hotel world, the group only has three very exclusive properties around the world (plus a private yacht for aquatic adventure lovers).…
Read More
El Al may not strike most as a ‘design-led’ airline, partly the reason we’ve barely covered the carrier on this site. However, the carrier is slowly starting to invest in contemporary design touches that are piece by piece, changing the image of the carrier. Headed up by Idan Noyberg, the founder of lyly.design, the airline has…
Read More
Air France may be proving themselves as an excellent European airline for connecting passengers, with some of the shortest and most seamless connections in their hub Charles De Gaulle, but the investment into improving the passenger experience runs much deeper than the infrastructure that’s being developed behind the scenes. While AirFrance’s flagship lounge ‘The Park’ in…
Read More
One of the best reasons to fly on Emirates’ A380 is to experience their onboard walk-up bar. While retaining the trademark horseshoe-shaped centrepiece, Emirates’ latest A380 Onboard Lounge will offer more seating space with a new seating arrangement along the windows on both sides of the bar. Eagle-eyed readers may notice there is no walnut…
Read More
Today, Qantas revealed its next-generation Premium Economy seat, which will debut on the airline’s brand new fleet of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners that start flying in October 2017. In comparison to Qantas’ other Premium Economy seats, these new seats are wider and offer more functional space overall. The new seat also has a unique recline motion that provides a…
Read More
Cathay Pacific may not be known as a distillery per-se, but the airline has rolled out its first beer, specially crafted for pressurised cabins. Named after “Betsy”, Cathay Pacific’s first aircraft, a Douglas DC-3 which flew passengers around the region in the 1940s and 1950s, Betsy Beer will be first served to First and Business…
Read More
JAL announced yesterday they will be opening a totally renovated Sakura Lounge in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport on March 1st. The new oneworld lounge will join fellow member Cathay Pacific’s designer lounge, opened in June 2015. “With the aim of creating a relaxed and comfortable environment to meet our customer requirements, JAL redesigned and upgraded…
Read More
As Air Canada’s revealed its new livery reveal, we raise the question, has the continuing trend of ‘Eurowhite’ liveries started to draw to a close? It was actually back in 1965 that Braniff International launched their ‘End of the plain plane’ advertising campaign – pointing out that their brightly coloured aircraft and Pucci uniforms were a unique selling…
Read More
Today, in a simultaneous cross-country launch in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, Air Canada unveiled for its customers and employees a new livery inspired by Canada for its entire fleet, new uniforms for its employees, and a taste of some of the new onboard menu offerings that its customers can look forward to. “Air Canada’s new livery signals a pivotal inflection point in our…
Read More
Tray tables may not be the first people think of when it comes to creativity, but Delta has caught onto the recent ‘bandwagon’ of using the tray table as prime real estate in a passenger’s field of view. Sometimes used as an advertising medium by travel media companies like Ink, the humble tray table is the perfect…
Read More
The Super Bowl is seen as one of the best platforms in the US to launch an advertising campaign due to the sheer audience it pulls. Turkish Airlines opted to use the moment to launch its new powerfully simple commercial starring Oscar winner Morgan Freeman. The campaign follows from last year’s “Batman v Superman” campaign which first…
Read More
Air France saw the launch of its first 787-9 commercial flight between Paris CDG and London Heathrow today. TheDesignAir was invited to greet the aircraft in London this morning. We were also allowed to take a look around the new aircraft type for the carrier, that will eventually start to form its long haul product.…
Read More