It’s been a while since we’ve seen some upcycling in the air, since Air France did something similar with their old advertising posters, and Virgin Atlantic who changed their seat covers into a variety of accessories and KLM who turned their old uniforms into carpets for their new World Business Class cabins. Emirates recently turned a…
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Originally 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,…
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Our friends at Finnair have just announced the new interiors for their A350 fleet which will come into service mid 2015. The A350, which has been in the shadow of their newer cousin, the A330 Neo as of late, now can sit proud about the product they can offer onboard, thanks in part due to Finnish ‘Designer’ airline…
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This will please the avgeeks. Did it infuriate you as much as it did us, when onboard, we looked at the fleet information or route maps to find they were out of date, or the information wasn’t detailed enough? London based company Neutral have just announced their new software for airlines which will change the way…
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Flight: EY18 Aircraft Type: A330-300 Class: Business Class Route: LHR-AUH Date: July 2014 http://www.etihad.com Best for: International business class travellers looking for luxury with one-stop connections Most likely to sit next to: Local Abu Dhabi residents or über-cool marketing and media types. Business or pleasure: This is an airline all about pleasure, whilst the carrier offers wi-fi and large tables to work from and…
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It’s been a while, but we are continuing our comparison reports on some of the most popular and competitive routes in the world. In the midst of our recent travel planning we noticed the great variety of carriers travelling between Hong Kong and Bangkok. There are 9 main competitors that run the city pair, formed of Thai Airways, Emirates, Sri…
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We haven’t covered much on Aer Lingus before, the carrier has pretty much kept a low-key approach to operations, offering angle-flat business class and fairly standard economy products. Not to say that’s bad, far from it, just not nescessarily ground breaking. It seems that’s all about to change, and the Irish carrier is now a…
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Macau, gambling Mecca to Asia has just gained a lounge to be proud of. Plaza Premium Lounge has just launched their brand new space at the airport. Amazingly, 5 million passengers fly through Macau International Airport every year. Plaza Premium will be the only lounge provider in Macau. The new 4,340 square feet lounge will have…
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When Qantas released images of their new lounge in Hong Kong back in April, we wanted to dig a little deeper into the design ethos of the new lounge, brought to us by Sumu Design, an architecture and interior design company based in Australia. We talk exclusively to Felice Carlino, the director of the agency…
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It’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…
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Read Part 1 here | Read Part 2 here | Read Part 3 here Part 4 | Economy. “Amazing! It’s like being on the Orient Express” I instinctively say when seeing the designs for the Economy Smartseat of Etihad’s new fleet. My interviewees all smile at that comment. I guess that must be called ‘hitting…
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Farnborough has already brought us our first bit of exciting design news – and we like what we see when it comes to Embraer’s E2! The new single aisle cabin designed by world-renowned design studio Priestmangoode for Embraer was unveiled today with a full size mock up at the world famous air show. The designs…
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We love simple architectural design. So it’s no surprise these understated airport seats have caught our attention. Italian leather designers Poltrona Frau have just introduced their new ‘Flair’ Seating concept to Bologna Airport, Italy. Traditionally an interiors specialist for the motoring industry, designing seats for companies such as Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, the company has continued its…
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Aircalin 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…
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Please read our first installment of our four part series here and second instalment here. Part 3 | Business Class. It’s possibly one of the hardest cabins to design. Customer expectations are high, margins are low and space is at a premium. Now with the advent of premium economy and the still-standing First Class sandwiching the most popular of premium cabins,…
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LAN and TAM have a current strategic plan to renew their premium spaces and provide a better travel experience for passengers. At the end of May, LAN and TAM inaugurated their new Preferential Check-in zone, located on the fourth floor on the west side of the International Airport in Santiago, Chile. The whole area features…
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So we may be based in London, and always happy to travel far and wide, but this month we take a look at what’s available a little closer to home. Welcome to this month’s Hot Hotel, Rosewood London. We were delighted to be able to review the very first of the ‘new’ Rosewood properties for thedesignair.net. Rosewood,…
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Celebrating 14 years, JetBlue launched their brand new Mint product last weekend. Alongside the launch of the new transcontinental flat bed service, the airline revealed their brand new uniform refresh. The dark blue silhouettes trimmed with bright orange elements bring a bright, contemporary and sophisticated flourish to the new-look airline. “While airline uniforms are constructed for…
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Fiji Airways recently celebrated the arrival of their first ATR ‘Fiji Link‘ aircraft. The latest piece in the Fiji Airways metaphorical brand-jigsaw. Along with this are new uniforms for Fiji Link, which are more bright and colourful and in keeping with the spirit of the archeipeligo of the Fiji Islands. However, today they announced the…
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Please read our first installment of our four part series here . Part 2 | Days after visiting Honour, I head on over to Acumen, another member of the EDC. Situated just around the corner in Clerkenwell, Acumen are also settling into their new offices, the epitome of London creativity, a bright and well-designed space that…
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Qantas have been busy over the past few months, opening new lounges around the world. The latest, in LAX’s TBIT terminal, opened yesterday in partnership with their good friends and One World carriers British Airways and Cathay Pacific. The new (and vast) space, designed by Woods Bagot, has been long awaited and compliments the terminal’s other spacious and…
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British Airways have just released images of their brand new interiors for their short haul fleet. The airline it has announced it will be refitting 95 (not all) of its short haul fleet with these slick new contemporary designs, which fit closer in-line to their long haul fleet offering. The new cabins will be available…
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One of our guilty pleasures here at thedesignair.net is onboard pyjamas. Give us a set and we are friends for life. Virgin Atlantic have been offering their understated black pyjamas for years, and whilst they’ve varied in size and fit over the past few incarnations, they’ve remained a constant fixture in the back of our…
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With the world cup soon approaching, national airlines around the world are getting into the spirit and supporting their local teams. Here’s a recap of some of the special liveries over the past few weeks – how many have you seen? Let us know! Brussels Airlines ‘Red Devils’ Brussels Airlines went to town with their…
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Flight: CI062 Aircraft Type: B747-400 Class: Business Class Route: FRA-TPE Date: May 2014 http://www.china-airlines.com Best for: Affordable business class travellers wanting excellent service and good connections across Asia. Most likely to sit next to: Local Taiwanese travellers, or connecting European flyers utilising the Skyteam partnership. Business or pleasure: Pleasure. Without wi-fi onboard, and a service concept that makes you feel like you are…
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Every designer’s idea of sheer panic is a blank sheet of paper. Imagine if this was given to you in the form of a completely empty A380 shell, and you were asked to create purely original ideas to fill it to the brim. It’s this blank piece of ‘metaphorical’ paper that was given to the…
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No surprises here; we love good design. And when Virgin America‘s current site was launched it was a nice refreshing change from the norm, however the ever-evolving look of the web meant it was only time until a redesign was on the cards. Instead of waiting for the site to look outdated, they decided to do a spring clean…
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SAS, excitingly, have announced a brand new cabin concept for their long haul aircraft. Featuring business class, premium economy and economy classes, the new cabin and seat designs leap the airline into 2014 with a loud bang. Competing against carriers such as Finnair who have already pushed their airline forward with new designed cabins, SAS…
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Sadly, 27th May 2014, graphic design legend Massimo Vignelli passed away at the age of 83. The Italian born designer is most famous for his work designing the New York Subway map & signage as well as the graphic design of the infamous American Airlines identity that only until recently was one of the most iconic aircraft liveries…
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When you hear ‘sustainable tourism’, let’s be honest, you wouldn’t picture yourself in a luxurious villa like the one above. However, we explored the finer side of the latest travel buzz-word in one of Thailand’s best hotels. Welcome to this month’s Hot Hotel, Soneva Kiri. The latest of the Soneva hotels to open, and still an established…
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