As promised, here at DesignAir we evaluated airlines around the world to compile our definitive Top 10 list of Cool Airline Brands. Let us know if you agree, whether you think we’ve missed one, or what your top 10 would be at the bottom of the page! 10. Southwest Southwest Airlines could be seen as a…
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Streuth! It’s hard not to report about the Virgin group of airlines right now, as they just keep on doing things right. We, here at TheDesignAir love this brand new commercial from Virgin Australia. Turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy! Slick, clean, and super retro, they are really trying to hark back to the…
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Southwest Airlines has always been seen as a fun-loving airline, with many people loving their light-hearted and easy going nature. Individual safety messages and character is encouraged to create a warm environment to put their passengers at ease. However, their latest incarnation of the female outfit, couldn’t be anything further from fun if it tried.…
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United Economy Report Flight: UA1717 Aircraft Type: B767-400 Class: Economy (Coach) Route: HNL – SFO Date: 26th September 2012 Best for: ‘Blandalised’ travelers, looking for a cheap seat, and nothing else. Most likely to sit next to: (on this route) An aging surfer dreaming of times gone by, or an armada of Japanese tourists. Business…
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Virgin Atlantic managed to top the polls in the CoolBrands List. The CoolBrands List has been running for 11 years and has featured the sexy red airline rather a lot. Sir Richard Branson’s airline was one of only two airlines to place, along with British Airways, However Virgin Atlantic placed 8th coolest brand in the…
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There is something to be said about UK advertising. It is some of the best in the world. Thomson’s latest advert currently screened on TV is somewhat reminiscent of the BA campaigns ‘To Fly to Serve’ seen on British TV before the Olympics. This move to nostalgia is quite common now, as coming out of a recession its…
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Lucky enough to be in O’ahu right now during the arrival of Island Air‘s new turboprop sent over from the mainland. This image, as seen on their facebook profile shows the aircraft resting after a just over 8 hour flight from the mainland from its previous owner American Eagle. This commences the start of the…
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Dining: Qatar Airways has yet again, gone above and beyond to try and create a truly unique product to compete with it’s slightly larger Middle Eastern counterparts. Four International chefs have been drafted in to enhance and develop their First Class and Business Class menu offerings flying from Doha in Qatar. The award-winning Chef Ramzi Choueiri,…
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Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Report Flight: VS043 Aircraft Type: B747-400 Class: Upper Class (Premium Business Class) Route: LGW – LAS Date: 18th September 2012 Best for: Style-conscious gadget-lovers and movie stars. Most likely to sit next to: Someone that either has been in a movie, owns a media company or is equally as cool as…
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No real surprises that Virgin America sweeped the board, hosted in their home state, at the Passenger Choice Awards 2012 yesterday in Long Beach California (September 17th), pulling in a whopping 4 awards, encompassing Overall Passenger Experience (Up to 50 IFE equipped in fleet), Best in Region (Americas), Best User Interface and Best Cabin Ambiance.…
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It seems the long-gone era of glamorous travel is fast diminishing, due to technological advances in the industry. Passengers are losing their connection to the airlines that they fly with, airlines are losing the communication points they used to have. ‘Tea? Coffee?” might be the only two words that a passenger could hear from their…
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There has been a bit of excitement running through the net recently of Apple’s impending iPhone launch, and with it, iOS 6, the new operating system, hosting a plethora of nifty new now-must-have-apps. The most important, and perhaps exciting to hit the airline industry is Passbook. Passbook seems to be a relatively nifty idea, sorting…
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Today, 09 September 2012, marks the news of one of the industry’s most influential CEOs stepping down from his position as CEO of Virgin Atlantic. Steve Ridgeway started his career with Virgin Atlantic in 1989 when he was appointed Managing Director of the industry’s first automated frequent flyer programme, Virgin Freeway. In 1994, he was…
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Singapore Airlines has always been seen as a global market leader so it doesn’t surprise to hear they have launched a plan to roll out their in-flight offering of WiFi from their current 14 aircraft out to their entire fleet. This will also mean that mobile phone data services can be enabled, allowing the humble…
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So, for those of you who have been following my posts will probably be expecting this report. It’s safe to say I’ve been confident that a ‘Virgin America’ product would end up over in Europe, recently covering such a concept in this Report. Virgin Atlantic have launched a 3 times daily return connection between Heathrow…
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Leafing through the library of Ink Global’s (world’s largest in-flight publisher) magazines, Gulf Life sprang out as one good looking title. With a new lease of life it seems and printed on quality stock, the magazine aims to impress, and certainly tries to punch above its weight for Gulf Air, the smaller of the Gulf…
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Raising the question ‘Will we ever learn?’ Hong Kong Airlines seems to have dropped it’s premium flights between Hong Kong and London Gatwick, only months after starting them. Add this to the recent news that the all-business class Singapore Airlines flights between Singapore and JFK now offer economy seating in them to bolster yields as…
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US Airways isn’t really a market leader in many ways. Their cabins are still dated and for most internal flights, entertainment consists of an inflight magazine and either a rather boring game of eye-spy or completing a half-done sudoku. However, US Airways does have miniture strokes of genius from time to time, usually spurred on…
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Perhaps slightly strangely named, the ‘OZ’ suite (after their airline code) has been revealed by Asiana Airlines. Asiana is one of my favourite airlines, quietly confident in their offering, very stylish and very reserved, there is something almost ‘Swiss’ about them. Whilst this suite isn’t anything really that new for those that have travelled on…
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Hawaii’s second longest running airline Island Air has just launched a new look for its fleet and website. Bright and colourful isn’t something new to the airline, the brand has always had fun liveries, however this feels a lot more considered and professional whilst maintaining it’s bright ‘Aloha’ spirit. The lei (garland of flowers) logo…
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So if you haven’t heard about the fairly radical new uniform for Virgin America, being launched across their fleet 8th August this year, here’s a cool behind the scenes look at their new uniform, designed by San Fran neighbours Banana Republic. It’s great to see the attention of detail that goes into the design of…
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Here’s a a little bit of fan for you from Farnborough. Rolls Royce has unveiled a perfect replica of it’s Trent 1000 engine, made entirely from 152,455 lego bricks. As stated in Flight Global‘s report, the engine was revealed as part of its innovation zone at the airshow. Much like the engine itself it was built…
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United have announced on their facebook page that their 787 will have a new look to it’s livery. To quote their site, “Our 787 fleet will be painted with the globe livery but will get its own unique twist: the gold line along both sides of the fuselage will feature a special swoop from nose to…
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Swoon. It’s no real surprise that Virgin America kept it’s probably now rather weighty crown of Best Domestic Airline in the US this year, it’s 5th year in a row. For those of thinking ‘Fix! Fix!’ It’s hard to say it is, as this award is voted by readers of Travel and Leisure magazine, rather…
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Changi Airport has just revealed the brand new ‘poetic’ art installation at their check-in hall in Terminal 1. Named ‘Kinetic Rain’, it is now the world’s largest (and possibly most complicated) moving art sculpture. 1,216 bronze droplets connected to computer-controlled motors create waves, shapes and random patterns that constantly change the halls interior similar to the…
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Whilst this image of the freshly painted Thai A380 might not generate a huge fanfare of a reaction, it is within that reasoning I feel Thai have got their paintjob of the A380 absolutely right. Comparing the image of the A380 to the 747 below you’ll see a few minor, but very clever changes. The…
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California Pacific Airlines might be a little upstart airline in the Californian sun compared to its rather large legacy competitors, however, the Californian’s do like the underdog. And with that in mind, look at how big Apple is today… perhaps this airline with very small roots could shoot up to become a bit of a…
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Birmingham airport will be the home to a new luxury lounge, created by the super cool business lounge experts ‘No.1 Traveller‘. In October this year they will be bringing their brand of super cool relaxation and comfort to the ever expanding international airport in the Midlands of England. This is No.1 Traveller’s first lounge outside…
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So for those of you who don’t know about new start-up FastJet, it is the new venture run by Stelios, the original easyJet guru who helped create the phenomenon of the low cost carrier. This venture is touted as the new ‘easyJet’ of Africa and whilst it most likely will have to compete with a variety of…
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Las Vegas is the proud owner of a brand new terminal. An architectural modern cube of a terminal to be honest. This modest $2.4 billion addition gives McCarran International Airport 14 brand new gates open to both international and domestic flights. Totalling over 1.9million square feet, Terminal 3 is a state of the art building with…
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