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…
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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,…
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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…
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TheDesignAir were happy to see that Air France had their own set of luggage, currently available on their Flying Blue Shopping site. Air France is already well known for their designer touches to the aviation, so partnering with Delsey, its no surprise the result is a fairly slick set of luggage. Available in three sizes and…
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Cathay Pacific today opened the long awaited lounge for passengers travelling out of Taiwan Taoyuen International Airport. Located at Level 4 in the Departure Hall of Terminal 1, the newly renovated Taipei lounge adopts the airline’s new lounge design ethos that has already won praise from passengers in other key Cathay Pacific destinations within the region…
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2015 has been an impressive year for the aviation industry, with many carriers pulling up their socks and vying for the all-elusive lucrative passenger. With oil-prices lower than before, airlines are snapping at the opportunity to revisit their products, launch new aircraft and impress their paying consumers. This means one thing, a better experience for…
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The Streets of Hong Kong have just got a little bit snappier today. Hong Kong-based HK Express launched its new uniform for cabin crew designed by LIFT Strategic Design, which also created the airline’s brand and cabin interior. In a shift from the normal buzz of employing a fashion designer to create the uniforms for…
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This week marked the arrival of Korean Air‘s new 747-8i passenger aircraft. The first of 10 on order, these new aircraft are heralded as the flagship airframe for this South Korean airline. KAL, which already operates seven 747-8 freighters, has become the first airline in the world to operate both the passenger and freighter version of…
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So it’s probably not news to most, that LAN and TAM have been undergoing a merger process for the last three years, and most have already been naming the LAN and TAM group with the moniker LATAM in the interim whilst they investigate a new brand. However, today it was announced in São Paulo that the two…
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Brazilian carrier Gol recently announced their new brand image, refreshing a brand image that has lasted for 14 years. Whilst there is perhaps very little that has changed on the surface, the new logo with its repositioned silver ring element somehow now manages to spell ‘GOOL’ instead of Gol. This could be construed as brand…
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It seems that TBIT isn’t the only way to fly from LAX anymore. While Virgin Atlantic recently opened their new Clubhouse in Terminal 2, sister airline Delta are bringing a bit of their magic to the passenger experience across the car park in terminal 5. Costing US$229million, the terminal wide renovations have now come to a close,…
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We were lucky enough to get invited to LATAM’s inauguration of their brand new Santiago Lounge today. The largest lounge in South America (and the largest so far for LATAM) hasn’t failed to deliver on its promise with over 23,000sq feet of luxurious passenger comfort on offer. LATAM have left the best till last, with the…
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No, these aren’t designer office pieces of furniture, they are the latest premium economy seats by Acro Aircraft Seating, designed by UK based Factorydesign. Conceived with the future demands of airliners in mind, these ergonomic beauties have embraced the simple fact that comfort should be found in the spaces between the seats. One of the many ‘diamond patterned’…
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Flight: CX250 Aircraft Type: B777-300ER Class: Business Class Route: LHR-HKG Flight time: 11:45 Seat: 16D Date: April 2015 http://www.cathaypacific.com Best for: Regular travellers connecting from Europe to Asia, with five flights a day, the airline offers a great variety of flight departure times with connections onto a variety of China and pan-Asian destinations. The crowd: Completely full, as always. Cathay manages to combine…
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Austrian Airlines has quietly announced its new brand in respect for the recent incident with sister airline Germanwings. However, the new brand signals a big change in the Austrian carrier. Marking the fusion of both Austrian Airlines and Tyrolean on April 1, 2015, the new livery, which will be rolled out across the fleet. Dubbed the ‘Red White…
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Many people may have heard about LATAM‘s merger over the past few years, and we are just on the cusp of a new combined brand being rolled out throughout South America. Being one of the largest airline groups in the world, chances are, if you are headed to a South American country anytime soon, the new merger will…
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Flight: EY11 Aircraft Type: A380 Class: First Class “Apartments” Route: AUH-LHR Flight time: 7:25 Seat: 1H Date: Februrary 2015 http://www.etihad.com Best for: Anyone who can afford it. Suitable for those who have to travel a long way and value space, service and comfort above all else. The crowd: An almost-full cabin. With ultimate privacy, it was hard to say, but mainly top level executive travellers.…
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Flight: EY12 Aircraft Type: A380 Class: Business “Studios” Route: LHR-AUH Flight time: 6:40 Seat: 12E Date: Februrary 2015 http://www.etihad.com Best for: Savvy one-stop travellers who want one of the very best products in the skies The crowd: Mainly international travellers, less UAE based passengers than its rivals. Business or pleasure: Definitely both, however the creature comforts far outweigh the excellent connectivity found onboard. Routes: Etihad fly to…
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This month we delve into that quiet and revered airport sanctuary! TheDesignAir once again, with strategic print partner Airways magazine bring you the very best Top 10 Airport Lounges in the world 2015. As well as appearing online, they will appear in print in every monthly glossy issue of Airways magazine, available around the world. We are impressed with the…
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Cathay Pacific with the help of McCANN, have launched a brand new campaign, which reinforces the message of how a comfortable and well thought-through product onboard can set you up for your travels and make the whole experience a lot more… well, civilized. On their microsite, Cathay state “We believe that travelling well is an…
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It 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…
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A recent article on CNBC and the Daily Mail has highlighted how Saudia is considering segregating male and female passengers onboard its planes. Whilst we take this story with a pinch of salt, it does highlight how design onboard can either aid or hinder an airline’s core requirements. Whilst the laws have allegedly come in…
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So you may have guessed we’ve been travelling recently with China Airlines, and for good reason. The Airline’s NextGen program to reinject life into the quieter of the Asian airlines has been nothing short of impressive. The latest element to join this facelift, is the new lounge in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 1, situated where…
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In the past few days, Qantas have announced a wave of improvements both in the front and the back of the aircraft for their passengers comfort. The introduction of refreshed Kate Spade and Jack Spade amenity kits, improved IFE and the upgrade of the economy meals makes for a welcome home in the sky. Qantas have been…
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Talk to any designer after a few drinks, and the usual story will come up, that “design is cyclical and everything that we see now has been seen before”. Bear with us a bit, but Southwest’s refreshed logo and livery speaks volumes to this concept. Southwest Airlines today, officially (compared to the leaked images on social…
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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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Finnair, one of Scandinavia’s biggest carriers, celebrated it’s 90th anniversary of flights yesterday. On March 20th 1924, the airline operated a Junkers F.13 float plane from Helsinki to Tallin, Estonia. Since then, the airline has grown to an airline carrying just under 10 million passengers a year, with a fleet of 44 jet aircraft, to four of…
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Our 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. What is interesting for our Top 10 International business classes 2014 is the wide ranging percentage scores within the top…
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We are so happy to finally announce a brand spanking new video for Virgin Atlantic. One of the original pioneers in ‘cool and original’ safety videos, the British Airline has once again shown what it can do when it put its mind to it. Taking inspiration from iconic titles such as Brief Encounter and 2001, A…
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Royal Brunei has just announced the latest in their branding developments at the new and improved airline. Today was the announcement of their new cabin crew uniforms, replacing the older (and bolder) red and yellow uniforms. The new uniforms follow the traditional Brunei fashion, and as stated by the airline, “the new collection reflects tradition,…
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