The Premium Seat Battle In The Middle East

It’s no surprise that Emirates has finally announced that it is set to unveil its new Business Class seat for its Boeing new 777 aircraft at ITB Berlin, the international travel trade show which takes place in just a couple of days time. After just launching the world’s longest route on a 777 from Dubai to Auckland,…

Read More

JetBlue Launches Charity Capsule Wardrobe Accessories

JetBlue has recently revealed a new range of accessories to join the airline’s current capsule uniform wardrobe. In a bid to continue their humanitarian efforts, the new accessories help charities chosen by the cabin crew. Featuring a range of multi-coloured ribbons, reflecting the carriers chosen charities, the crew are able to donate a part of…

Read More

Hawaiian Airlines Partner Again With Pow!Wow!

It just keeps getting better. Hawaiian Airlines has partnered once again with Pow! Wow! to create a brand new mobile masterpiece that can be seen driving around Honolulu Airport, delivering catering to the airline’s fleet of aircraft. To continue the airline’s support of local and International artists, the airline commissioned Hawai’i and Japan’s top street artists…

Read More

Air France Updates La Saga Microsite

Francophile aviation fans beware, Air France updated its very clever and highly informative website Air France La Saga microsite back in December last year, and this month saw the introduction of their latest story on the carrier’s iconic 747 aircraft that left the fleet in January. The site is dedicated to Air France’s heritage and…

Read More

Swiss Show Us The Many Faces That Make An Airline

Swiss last month took delivery of their 777-300ER and revealed their newest lounges, but last week the carrier also released a video on YouTube, which showcases the many faces of the airline. We are in love with the new video, which is beautifully shot and edited. It may be 5 minutes-something long but it’s well worth a…

Read More

American Airlines Invests In Refreshed Lounges With Table Service Dining

Most people may not know, but the first Airline lounge was actually created by American Airlines back in 1939. Since then, lounges have come full circle to be some of the most opulent and premium branded spaces around the world. It’s no surprise then that the founder of the airside lounge has decided to invest…

Read More

British Airways Updates First Class Lounge At Heathrow

British Airways today announced the refurbishment to the airline’s First lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5 eligible to First customers and Gold Executive Club members. The announcement comes just weeks after the announcement of their new Singapore lounge design. The new interiors will include “new contemporary and stylish furniture throughout the lounge, plush new carpets, re-sanded, waxed…

Read More

British Airways To Fly From Four Major London Airports

British Airways this week announced they will start flying from Stansted to four sunshine routes starting May 28th. This will be the fourth major London airport the carrier will fly from, including Heathrow and Gatwick and London City, leaving only London Luton currently unserved by the carrier. The airlines latest route network, operated by BA Cityflyer’s…

Read More

Trip Report: British Airways 787-9 First Class January 2016

Flight: BA073 Aircraft Type: B787-9 Class: ‘First’ First Class Route: LHR-AUH-MCT Date: January 2016 http://www.ba.com We were curious last year to see how British Airways new First product on their 787-9 were going to reinvent the first class experience, but when we had the chance to experience the product first-hand (forgive the pun) we jumped at the chance to see why…

Read More

Going Behind The Scenes At Hornall Anderson For Their Alaska Rebrand

Alaska’s rebrand was well received when it was launched at the end of January with aviation fans (including us) around the world taking to the refreshed look. Sometimes though even a small shift in the look of an airline can take many months of painstaking work as historically speaking, liveries have to last decades, not years…

Read More

Saudia Receive First 787 Dreamliners

Saudia this week received their first two 787-9 Dreamliners which is scheduled to start passenger operation in February. The new interiors are designed by Honour Branding, who also worked as part of the Etihad Design Consortium that brought the Etihad 787-9 Dreamliners to life (the only other Middle East carrier to currently operate the model).…

Read More

XiamenAir Introduce New ‘Modern-Classic’ Uniforms

Starting this month passengers on XiamenAir may notice they are being served by cabin crew wearing entirely new threads. The new uniforms for men will join the women’s uniforms that were launched May last year. Designed by famous Taiwanese fashion designer Jamei Chen, the new male uniforms for include off tailored silhouettes that hark back to the JetSet…

Read More

Qantas Offers Two New Australian Additions To Its Inflight Product

Qantas has just launched a brand new safety video that showcases Australia in all its natural glory. From an oxygen mask demonstration at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart to a life-jacket demonstration at Bondi Icebergs, the video will be introduced across Qantas’ domestic and international fleet from today, as well as featuring…

Read More

SWISS Launch New Lounges And Show Off New 777

SWISS is the latest airline to take delivery of a brand new 777-300ER and yesterday they showed off the new aircraft to members of the media. Our reporter Sven Hennig was there to take a look at what we think is the latest ‘designer’ aircraft interior by London based Priestmangoode. In total, Swiss International Air Lines will…

Read More

Boeing Completes 737 MAX 8 Test Flight

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 flew for the first time yesterday in Seattle as the aircraft manufacturer makes its final stretch to get the aircraft program into the skies. The 737 MAX program achieved this milestone on schedule which begins a comprehensive flight-test program leading to certification and delivery. The aircraft is the first to utilise the latest…

Read More

XiamenAir Open New Flagship Lounge In Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport Terminal 3

Just last week, XiamenAir, a SkyTeam member, opened up its new ‘Flagship’ lounge in Xiamen Airport Terminal 3, for its premium customers, in a bid to become another formidable international player in the Chinese market. The new designer led lounge follows the recent international expansion plans, including the upcoming Cebu, Melbourne and Vancouver routes for…

Read More

In Reflection: Cathay Dragon’s New Brand Is A Natural Evolution

Yesterday we announced that Dragonair was going to change its brand to Cathay Dragon in a bid to align itself with Cathay Pacific and while the general reaction has been similar to ours in thinking that the livery looks familiar to Qantas or Turkish Airlines (or at least from afar), we have taken a closer look…

Read More

Cathay Pacific Rebrand DragonAir As “Cathay Dragon”

Cathay Pacific today announced that DragonAir will cease to exist, instead the sister airline to Cathay Pacific will be rebranded as Cathay Dragon. In a press release announced today, Cathay Pacific’s Chief Executive Ivan Chu said “In aligning the Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon brands, we will create a more seamless journey for customers, enabling us to…

Read More

JetBlue New Interiors Offer Bigger Screens and Brand New Seats

Today, JetBlue showed off the first renderings of their restyled cabin which “will enhance the JetBlue experience to meet the needs of travellers today”, including a greater focus on connectivity, comfort, and space. This marks JetBlue’s first complete redesign of the interiors on its A320 fleet since it launched in 2000 and the differences, while perhaps…

Read More

Alaska Launch Refreshed New Brand – And We Like It

Alaska Airlines revealed a brand new look to an airline brand that has remained virtually unchanged for 25 years. The new refreshed look comes a couple of years after the airline refreshed it’s iconic wordmark to make it more legible, removing the strikethrough that the letter K created. The new brand was launched in a maintenance…

Read More

Air Canada Add New Toronto Business Class Check-In Area As Latest In Wave Of Improvements

Air Canada last week opened a new Business Class check-in area in Toronto Pearson for their Business Class, Premium Economy, Premium Rouge and Alititude top tier fliers as well as gold members of Star Alliance. The area has been designed to offer a more relaxed environment for their premium passengers to check-in, including lounge seating,…

Read More

TAP Portugal Announce Identical Interiors To Sister Company Azul

TAP Portugal today hinted at a brand new future for their long haul fleet, based on two new A330 aircraft that will join the fleet. It is fairly easy to distill as the future vision of the rest of the long haul fleet. Visuals released yesterday match the exact photos used by Azul to showcase…

Read More

JAL Hint At New Business Class Product In Wave Of Improvements for 2016

JAL today announced a wave of improvements to their fleet and flight frequencies that will reach both domestic and international skies in 2016. The wave of improvements include the addition of premium economy to a host of destinations, expanding their current JAL Sky Suite aircraft and the introduction of a regional business class product to their new…

Read More

Avianca Launch New Miami Lounge

Avianca this week announced the latest opening of their new lounge concept in Miami International Airport. Located in Terminal J near boarding gate 12B, the lounge offers its services to LifeMiles Élite Gold and Diamond members as well as Star Alliance Gold, Priority Pass cardholders or Business Class travelers and their guest. This is the 16th lounge…

Read More

Istanbul New Airport To Receive Beautiful Pininfarina & Aecom Control Tower

İGA, the consortium building Istanbul’s New Airport, has chosen an innovative and stunning design by AECOM and Pininfarina as the winner of an international design competition for the regional Air Traffic Control tower and technical building. The breathtaking AECOM and Pininfarina collaboration was chosen from a total of six entries from international architectural teams, including…

Read More

Air France And CDG Impress As Europe’s Largest Transit Hub

Charles De Gaulle used to send shivers down our spine. The thought of transiting through the airport meant getting lost, missing connections or surly staff seemingly specifically employed to disrupt a passengers day. This reason alone meant we had avoided Paris as a connection airport for many years, however we’ve been totally bowled over by…

Read More

From The Founder: How You Can Help Us In 2016

Dear Readers, Thank you already for your support of TheDesignAir in 2016. 2015 had been a phenomenal year for us here at TheDesignAir. Celebrating four years, last year we had over 5,000,000 views, 8,000 subscribers and have posted over 200 entries. I personally thank you for your continued support and interaction with the site. What started as just a simple blog…

Read More

The Best Of The Best In 2015 – TheDesignAir’s Round-up Of The Year

2015 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 More

ANA’s R2D2 Jet Uses The Force to Transport Stars Between The ‘Star Wars’ Premieres

The world went crazy this week as Star Wars Premiered in Los Angeles. Part of the action were ANA who’s partnership with the Star Wars franchise runs deep. The force certainly is strong with ANA. Japan’s largest airline shuttled the cast and crew of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens from the World Premiere in Hollywood on Monday…

Read More

Garuda Indonesia Appoints JPA Design To Create New Business And Economy Interiors

Garuda Indonesia has appointed International transport design specialist, JPA Design to create its new aircraft cabin interiors as the airline expands its fleet and builds on its reputation as a world-class carrier. The same design agency that created the DoveTail business class seat (as shown above) and recently Singapore Airlines new Premium Economy Class seat. Garuda’s new…

Read More