British Airways Increases Focus On Connecting Passengers Including Chauffeur Service For Club World And First Cabins

Heathrow can be stressful sometimes (although we’ve had our fair share of excellent experiences too and usually can get from gate to tube on a good day in just 6 minutes) however, if your flight is delayed or connecting flight is on the other side of the terminal, then British Airways’ new enhanced services for…

Read More

British Airways’ New Club Europe Dining Signals Airline’s Continued Desire To Improve Business Class Passenger Experience

British Airways is making a multi-million pound investment in its short haul business class cabin, Club Europe as part of the airline’s existing £4.5bn investment plan that has already seen a range of improvements to BA’s passenger experience. Starting September 12th the airline will introduce what seem to be delicious new menus with improved recipes and…

Read More

British Airways Opens Second Of New Lounge Concepts, In Aberdeen

It’s Not the 1950’s And It’s Not Mad Men’s latest set. This is in fact British Airways‘ latest lounge to open, in Aberdeen. It might not have the most footfall of all BA lounges with only a handful of flights each day on regional aircraft, but the space will be welcome to passengers. We can’t…

Read More

British Airways Opens Ultra-Modernist Lounge In Rome Fiumicino Airport

British Airways and fellow oneworld passengers flying from Rome’s Fiumicino airport can now have their own slice of Gattica inspired luxury thanks to a newly launched lounge. This lounge is the spearhead of its £4.5bn investment to benefit its customers, revamping lounges across its network, starting with this opening in Rome’s Fiumicino Airport and the result…

Read More

British Airways New Economy And Premium Economy Seats Distract Passengers With Bigger IFE Screens

Yes, these sparkly new seats are on British Airways, in fact they are already being rolled out on the carrier’s ‘sunshine routes’ from their hub in Gatwick. Retrofitting their fleet of 777s means they are removing some of their business class cabin to fit a larger World Traveller Plus cabin and even sneak in a…

Read More

British Airways Revamps Concorde Room Including Expanded Terrace Concept

British Airways has just revamped its award-winning flagship Concorde Room at Heathrow T5, exclusive to British Airways’ customers travelling in the airline’s First cabin. The refurb has once again drawn inspiration from the ‘very best’ of British Design. The refurbishment to the airline’s exclusive lounge included re-upholstering iconic pieces of furniture, and adding new feature pieces to the…

Read More

Oneworld Launches A Wave Of New Routes This Week

This week saw Cathay, Qantas and British Airways launch a wave of new flights, adding options and increasing the oneworld global network. British Airways has added to its Gatwick leisure network by introducing Toronto and re-establishing Las Vegas in direct competition to Virgin Atlantic’s city pair. This now means BA serves Las Vegas from both…

Read More

White Company Partnership Is A Step In The ‘White’ Direction For British Airways

We expect the news of British Airways’ new partnership will bright a sigh of relief to frequent fliers of the airline. The White Company and British Airways today announced its plans to improve the bedding and amenity kit offering for Business Class passengers, following similar moves from the likes of Delta, SAS and United. Later this year,…

Read More

Is British Airways New Boost To Club All It’s Cracked Up To Be?

First, let us start by saying, we welcome – nay applaud – investment into a new Club World product for British Airways. The past few months and steerage of new CEO Alex Cruz has seen consistent cuts to the product, at a time when it needed serious investment. Ticket prices have been constantly higher than…

Read More

BA Partners With Quintessentially British Brand Liberty London For First Class Amenity Kit

Appearing in January 2017, First Class passengers will soon receive brand new Liberty London washbags on their flights with British Airways. As part of a larger rollout, further print designs will be added to the collection, giving BA customers to build a collection of the famous and iconic Liberty designed products. The women’s washbag features…

Read More

New ‘First Wing’ To Come To Heathrow T5 In April 2017

British Airways has finally revealed images and information on its new First Wing at the carrier’s flagship Heathrow T5. First and Gold Executive Club customers travelling from the dedicated terminal will soon have access to the new ‘First Wing’, creating an exclusive walkway from check-in to the lounges in Terminal 5 bypassing the need to use the fast…

Read More

British Airways Expanding Gatwick Long-Haul Fleet

British Airways will bring a fourth three-class 777 to London Gatwick this winter, meaning the carrier will have a 12 strong fleet of long haul aircraft based at the second busiest airport in London. The extra aircraft will mean the airline can also launch its three times a week service to Cape Town, supplementing its already…

Read More

British Airways Update T5A Galleries Lounge

British Airways have just refurbished the Club World Galleries South lounge in T5A, just a couple of weeks after they refurbished their First Lounge in T5. A new furniture layout has been created in the lounge to enhance individual seating and increase privacy through the use of screens and high backed chairs. As part of…

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

British Airways Showcase An Emerging Trend In Smart Watch Travel

British Airways have never been shy of embracing new technology. They were the first airline to create a digital app back in 2008. That year, some 118,000 added it to their device and in 2015, it has topped the five million mark. During the last seven years the airline has updated their app with new functionality 32 times,…

Read More

British Airways Opens Latest Galleries Lounge in Singapore Designed By Graven

Changi Singapore has just welcomed a new lounge courtesy of design studio Graven. Housing the Concorde Lounge put together by Honour Branding that we covered earlier this month, this opening marks the eighth Lounge that Graven has designed for British Airways, in locations ranging from Edinburgh to Washington Dulles. Ross Hunter, Director at Graven said: “BA is one of…

Read More

British Airways New Concorde Bar Opens In Singapore, Designed By Honour

Today marks the launch of British Airways‘ brand new Concorde Bar in Singapore Changi airport Terminal 1. This marks the first in a series of luxury British Airways Concorde lounges opening across the world, designed by London based brand experience company Honour. The bar, named after the carriers original supersonic flagship aircraft, is exclusively available for BA’s…

Read More

British Airways New 787-9 First Class Cabin Is A Step In The Right Direction

The Abu Dhabi – London route has pretty much been ruled by Etihad since their introduction of their award-winning A380. However, British Airways are fighting back, with the announcement of their new 787-9 First Class product that will soon be flying the city pairs (and on to Muscat) Whilst the cabin still is nothing really compared…

Read More

Trip Report: British Airways Boeing 777-300 In New World Traveller June 2015

Flight: BA27 Aircraft: Boeing 777-300 Class: World Traveller (economy) Seat: 30A Route: LHR-HKG Date: June 2015 Frequent flyer program: BA Executive Club / Avios. Part of the OneWorld Alliance http://www.britishairways.com British Airways 777-300ER Economy Class Report Written for TheDesignAir by Zoe Belhomme | As a Hong Kong-based British expat I find myself travelling between London and Hong Kong at least three…

Read More

TheDesignAir’s Top 10 Business Classes 2015

It has been a busy year for Business Class, with a staggering array of new products being launched as carriers fight for their most lucrative passenger base. Our list contains some surprises, with familiar names falling off and lesser-known carriers appearing. Generally speaking, the products scored lower this year, possibly because consumers’ expectations are rising. The judges looked, as always, at hard and soft product first— but the very highest…

Read More

TheDesignAir Top 10 Liveries of 2015

This month we are turning our eyes to the outside of the aircraft. Usually bright and colorful, these calling cards fill international airports with a myriad of designs. A livery, if designed correctly, can convey the brand experience that takes place inside. Each year, our judges (including some new faces) sort through the best of the best to find out what is hitting the mark and ticking the right…

Read More

British Airways Are Keeping Us Guessing

In a new wave of patent submissions, British Airways are perhaps going back on their original herringbone concept that they submitted last year. The patent, filed last year but only recently published, shows off a wave of innovative seating arrangements. Whilst most of the patent references the seating configuration rather than the seats themselves, there are…

Read More

Qantas And Partners BA & Cathay Pacific Open New Lounge At LAX

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…

Read More

TheDesignAir’s Top 10 International Business Classes 2014

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…

Read More

TheDesignAir’s Top 10 Destinations Of 2014

Welcome 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 More

British Airways Launch New Look Travel Spas And Amenity Kits

British Airways, whose travel spas are run by well known brand Elemis, are undergoing a refurb and will have a new look, just in time for Christmas. The refurbished Terminal 5 spa will now offer state-of-the-art massage chairs, which will offer additional massage therapy, whilst the real therapists can focus on the passengers hands, feet…

Read More

TRIP REPORT: British Airways Club Europe August 2013

British Airways Business Class Report Flight: BA2666 Aircraft Type: 737-400 Class: Business Class (Club Europe) Route: LGW – RAK Date: 02nd August 2013 Best for: Leisure Travellers who pick up a rash from low cost carriers. Most likely to sit next to: On this flight, most likely business executives using their airmiles to ship themselves and their entire family (including Nanny)…

Read More