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…
Read MoreThis month TheDesignAir takes a look at everything that airlines should be. Airlines we want to travel with, and are going above and beyond to create something truly unique in the sky. Our judges have voted and, interestingly, our top 10 all fit within just a 6 percent margin, and, yet again, we haven’t been able to just fit in 10…
Read More2015 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…
Read MoreIt was announced at the end of last week that little known Sata International may be undergoing a rebrand. The airline, also known as ‘Sata Air Azores’ is changing it’s image to become ‘Azores Airlines’. Shockingly, this rebrand of the airline is being announced 4 years after the incumbent design was released. Globally speaking, this still…
Read MoreFlight: HA09 Aircraft Type: A330-200 Class: Economy (Extra legroom) Route: LAX-HNL Date: February 2014 http://www.hawaiianair.com Best for: Those wanting to start their Hawaiian holiday off with a little extra everything. Most likely to sit next to: With the mini cabin-extra legroom seats, savvy travellers who have done this trip before and know what an extra few inches can do. Business or pleasure: Business?…
Read MoreWe were lucky today to be given an exclusive tour of one Hawaiian Airlines‘ two new A330 aircraft, parked at the gate at Honolulu airport. Just a few weeks old the latest aircraft to join the fleet, Keoe, showcases the brand new interior that will soon be introduced to the entire A330 fleet. Set to…
Read MoreIt’s that time again, and the judges have voted for their Top 10 Liveries for 2014. Each year the judges sort through the best of the best to find out what is hitting the mark. This year some familiar faces return, and some get booted out of the top 10, and there are even a…
Read MoreOur friends at Hawaiian have just released a video time-lapse of the painting of their very first ATR. Whilst we announced this a while ago, secretly we’ve been waiting for the chance to see this livery for real. The new aircraft are absolutely stunning and are yet another winning livery for the pacific –…
Read MoreOne of our favourite carriers, Hawaiian Airlines has recently announced that in June 2014, their A330 fleet will offer a new level of comfort in their economy cabin. Titled ‘Extra Comfort Economy’, Hawaiian, In their first comprehensive redesign of its long-haul seating configuration, will be offering a new class of seats that offer more legroom and other amenities…
Read MoreOur TheDesignAir Top 10 lists have undergone a revamp in 2014, and to aid transparency, our top 10 airlines will now have their rating out of 100 shown, as voted for and calculated by our judging panel. This month we cover our top 10 premium economy classes. With airlines investing more into their new mid-cabin classes, competition is…
Read MoreOriginally launched on the Haneda – Fukuoka route back in May, JAL have revamped their domestic cabins on their 777s to offer luxurious comfort to its guests. Since then the ball has started rolling to retrofit 77 aircraft, as the new cabin, dubbed ‘Sky Next’ finds its way to new destinations on the JAL network. Recently,…
Read MoreBy Marisa Garcia | Engineers at Airbus’ A320 Family paint shop in Hamburg, Germany, just developed a unique methodology to radically improve the creative options available to airlines and brand managers by making it possible to directly print livery on the fuselage using inkjet printers–resulting in a faster and more efficient painting process which also allows…
Read MoreAircalin has taken the new delivery of its latest A320 as an opportunity to relaunch its livery. Another Pacific based airline, like Fiji Airways and O’hana by Hawaiian, has looked at its cultural roots to offer a unique and considered design, celebrating the culture of the New Caledonian islands it flies from. The original livery…
Read MoreThere has been talk of flights between Hawaii and Europe for years, and the latest news of Norwegian Airlines and Oslo airport being in discussions with Honolulu is nothing surprising, as it is a market that is terribly underserved. We know all too well as we make the trip every 10 months or so. But…
Read MoreWe are pleased to announce our Top 10 Cool Airline Brands 2014, the list features the ‘coolest’ airlines found around the world, as voted by our judging panel. This year brought a variety of new entrants, due to their work in 2013 in improving their brand image. There were also a host of airlines that…
Read MoreLATAM have just exclusively announced a brand new look for their short haul and long haul cabins, being rolled out on their Airbus A320 family aircraft and new 787-9 and A350 fleet. This is the first real sign of unification between the two airlines, who have been working together since 2012. Conceived by Priestmangoode, the new domestic…
Read MoreWelcome to our Top 10 destinations of 2014, the list of the best places to go for the year ahead. Here at TheDesignAir we’ve wrapped up the best 10 destinations, whether it be for the best in air travel, the best new routes or the hottest hotels to stay in. So without further ado, here’s the…
Read MoreHawaiian Airlines seems to be on a mission to be one of the coolest and biggest carriers in the pacific. Hawaiian’s latest endevour, designed to take on the new Island Air means business. Connecting the smaller islands of Molokai and Lanai to the other islands, a new fleet of turboprops will join the Hawaiian family, except…
Read MoreOur good friends at Fiji Airways, winner of the best livery 2013 in our Top 10 Liveries have now extended their brand to the domestic and regional carrier Pacific Sun. Pacific Sun, since the new re-branding of Fiji’s International airline, has been at odds with the earthy colours and sophisticated cabins, although obviously the friendly and…
Read MoreHere at TheDesignAir, our team of expert judges have looked at the liveries around the world this year and have come up with our Top 10 liveries for 2013. Whilst we have some great looking airlines from last year’s Top 10 still appearing in the list this year, there are some great new liveries that are…
Read MoreNow last year, when IslandAir, One of Hawaii’s internal island airlines launched their new livery, we got excited as this seemed like a new chapter for the long lasting competitor to Hawaiian Airlines. A brand new livery and new website showed off a fresh, contemporary airline, and we were looking forward to seeing it person.…
Read MoreWe are pleased to announce our Top 10 economy classes for 2013. We have scoured the world for airlines that have really shown us something truly special. Whilst many airlines didn’t make the list, we’d like to state that generally over the past 12 months, we have seen airlines around the world innovate and renovate…
Read MoreBack in the glamourous heyday of travel, airlines (believe it or not) fought for the attention of the travelers. With the recent invention of air travel, costs were relatively low. You could fairly easily get hold of a plane, fill it full of passengers and fly it to wonderful exotic destinations. OK, so it wasn’t…
Read MoreWe are slightly taken aback by Transaero’s latest announcement regarding the cabin offerings on their six new 737-800 aircraft. Transaero, a Russian carrier, that was fairly unheard of until a few years ago, was recently awarded by SkyTrax “Most Improved Airline In the World” and by the looks of things, quite rightly so. In what…
Read MoreFlight: EK216 Aircraft Type: A380-800 Class: Business Class Route: LAX-DXB Date: February 2014 http://www.emirates.com Best for: Luxury long haul explorers wanting all the trimmings. Most likely to sit next to: Either your partner or no-one thanks to their staggered seating. But this is ex-pat country, with many international travellers currently based in the UAE on business. Business or pleasure: Well the A380 is…
Read MoreJetBlue have announced the new price point for flying with the only private ‘suite’ between West-East Coast flights; Los Angeles and New York and San Francisco and New York. Starting at a mind bending $499 one way they have managed to surpass our expectations yet again with the costs being yet another reason to fly…
Read MoreFlight: FJ811 Aircraft Type: A330-200 Class: Business Class Route: LAX-NAN Date: 6th February 2014 http://www.fijiairways.com Best for: Savvy passengers who can afford to spend a little more to start their holiday early, and fight off the jetlag. Most likely to sit next to: Anyone from a seasoned traveller top-to-toe in Linen luxury, to a marine biologist connecting on to Sydney. Business or…
Read MoreAlaska Airlines this week revealed it’s latest unique livery for it’s fleet, designed by 17 year old Aaron Nee. The design was part of a competition run by the airline to create a livery that ‘honored the culture of the Aloha State’. Nee’s design was selected from among more than 2,700 submissions by students across the…
Read MoreThe livery Air New Zealand is the latest airline to revisit and refresh their livery, in a recent flood of new livery designs. Their new livery (as announced earlier today by our antipodean friends at Australian Business Traveller) follows their original idea to change to an all-black tail and typeface treatment, something that they originally…
Read MoreAs we head into 2013, it’s time to start planning the best places to go for the year ahead. Here at TheDesignAir we’ve wrapped up the best 10 destinations, whether it be for the best in air travel, best new airports or the hottest hotels to stay in. So without further ado, here’s the run-down…
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