Let’s face it, airline cabins are becoming more and more familiar, the day of being surprised when walking onboard is almost over. The era of innovation that saw all-aisle access, private suites, and fully flat beds in business class – which first blossomed some twenty years ago – has seemingly settled into a plateau that…
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Friday saw the announcement that KLM will finally introduce its own Premium Economy product, bringing the carrier in line with Air France, Delta and Virgin Atlantic, its strategic partners. Dubbed Premium Comfort Class, the product sits above its economy comfort product which is fundamentally an economy seat with a little more legroom, and below the…
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Taiwanese carrier China Airlines has just received its first A321neo passenger aircraft which heralds a new era in the airline’s narrow-body fleet. A total of 25 of these advanced Airbus aircraft will enter the fleet over the coming years, which will operate short-haul routes including Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and Cross-strait. The aircraft itself features…
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AVIC Cabin Services is more than just AIM altitude and Thompson Aero Seating, however those will be more familiar names than Jiatai. However, it’s one company and part of the group not to be overlooked. Jiatai’s new JT220B Business Class and JT220E Economy Class seats are a result of the company’s strategy, supported by ACS,…
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United Airlines, now profitable once again has firmly set its stall as a leading Passenger Experience airline, vying for market dominance through modern, comfortable cabins that give passengers what they want: more space, more entertainment and more choice. This is something we applaud and have been promoting as the right approach to winning over customer…
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Tomorrow, Qatar Airways will see the first flight by its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner passenger aircraft, featuring its much anticipated new Adient Aerospace ‘Ascent’ Business Class Suite. The aircraft will operate on a number of key routes to Europe and Asia, starting with its Doha to Milan service followed by Doha to Athens, Barcelona, Dammam,…
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French leisure carrier Corsair, based in Paris Orly has just received the very first of 5 new A330neo aircraft which will modernise its fleet. Last year saw the retirement of its 747s which have now been replaced by an all Airbus A330 fleet. The airline has streamlined its network offering which once spanned the US…
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While we covered JetBlue’s fantastic new Mint product recently, the airline certainly kept our eyes at the front of the aircraft, as we thought that’s where the magic was going to happen. However, it seems when it comes to Economy Class travel, the airline has decided to firmly position itself as a challenger to the…
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Airbus is soon to bring its first A320 family Airspace cabin to the market thanks to JetBlue’s new A321 which will be flying in just a few months’ time. Airbus has just recently started flight testing of the first Airspace Single-Aisle aircraft. A second phase of in-flight testing will take place in February to validate…
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JetBlue has been long touting its desire to compete on the Transatlantic market. With the recent exit of Norwegian’s long haul operations, there’s certainly a slot to be filled in competitively priced disrupters, and JetBlue has jumped at the opportunity. However, it certainly means business, trying to take a slice of the highly lucrative Transatlantic…
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It’s long been established in scientific fields that memories, emotions, and senses are all tied together. The same region of the brain that processes the five senses is also partly responsible for storing emotional memories. In the airline field, that means passengers are more likely to remember and build brand memories that tie in all five senses…
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JetBlue has just revealed the all-new onboard experience which will soon greet customers aboard the airline’s Airbus A220-300. It is the first of no less than 70 A220’s that JetBlue has on order, that was delivered to the airline’s home at John F. Kennedy International Airport Terminal 5 in New York on New Year’s Eve.…
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The industry has been mooting the possibility of growth in the long-haul single-aisle market across the past couple of years, however 2020’s pandemic has rapidly escalated this conversation. These narrow body ultra-long-haul aircraft are perfectly suited for a subdued travel market across the next few years, with fewer seats and the ability to connect point-to-point…
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Stelia’s new ‘Opera’ seat has just entered the market, specifically for narrow-body single-aisle cabins. This new “Full Flat, Full Access, Full Privacy” Business Class seat claims it offers the highest standard wide-body comfort on single-aisle. Now you might be like, ‘hang on, I’ve seen reverse herringbone seats on single-aisle aircraft before, such as American Airlines…
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Over the past few years Gulf Air has managed to really shake off its tired products of the past and reposition itself as a boutique carrier that gives the ME3 a run for their money. The 787 product is certainly stunning, and we thought that in many ways, thanks to their smaller more intimate cabins,…
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You might have seen in the news, that airlines are increasingly turning to UV (and in particular UVC) to sanitise their fleets. Only in the past few weeks JetBlue adopted a new trolley-based light sanitisation station that’s wheeled through the cabin to disinfect the cabin in approximately 10 minutes. Why UV light? While UVA and…
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Meet Pure Skies, PriestmanGoode’s answer to the future of flight, responding to the recent curve ball Covid-19 threw at cabin designers of today. The London-based design studio created a new design concept to support the future success of the aviation industry – understanding that a clean slate is needed to bring confidence back to the…
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Unless you’ve had your head under a rock, you might have noticed that airlines are struggling to survive right now. Their entire model is based on free movement between destinations, a right that has since been rescinded by the global governments who are trying to get a grip on the pandemic. As such, airlines are…
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MEA doesn’t often feature on TheDesignAir, as it has slipped under the radar for a while with its older fleet and less-than-design approach to aviation. However it seems the airline has turned a corner and is featuring firmly on our radar now. While not as ‘bells and whistles’ as many other Middle Eastern carriers, it…
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Emirates has taken a very pragmatic approach to hygiene in – perhaps – the most advanced myriad of sanitisation products to ensure a safer journey without impacting the passenger experience in a way so far removed from what we were once used to. The airline’s model shows potential blueprints for a mid-term approach to travelling…
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There’s quite a lot of commentary on Covid-19 right now, and the research is constantly evolving. There’s already some innovative designs on the drawing board for helping with the perception of social distancing, including Factorydesign’s Isolation Kit and Aviointeriors’ Janus seat concept. While Factorydesign’s concept actually is quite smart and has a post Covid-19 application,…
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This month sees Air France launch a new amenity kit with a brand new design for passengers travelling in its long-haul Premium Economy cabin. The airline regularly updates their kits, and this time they’ve decided to reflect the colder months across the Northern hemisphere right now, wrapping them up in a “padded” texture. This latest…
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This week saw British Airways launch new products for those in the front and the back of the plane. For those in then pointy end, flying from San Francisco and Newark can now enjoy made-to-order cocktails, in just 45 seconds thanks to an automated cocktail maker. Now, while BA doesn’t offer Bartenders in the same…
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Delta, who recently took a large stake in LATAM has also this summer launched its A330-900neo interiors. This means that now there is a similar all-aisle access business class product on certain LATAM and Delta flights, although Delta, which is rolling out doors across its new Delta One products, might be getting an additional edge.…
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Last week saw JetBlue, alongside its official design partner, Acumen Design Associates, unveil the latest cabin interior design for the airline’s new A321neo aircraft. The aircraft is already servicing the New York JFK to Fort Lauderdale route and will eventually serve two new international routes for JetBlue: New York JFK to Guayaquil, Ecuador, and New…
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In recent years Air Seychelles has reconfigured its route network and fleet opting for narrow-body aircraft over their long haul routes, relying on their strategic partnership with Etihad to feed the traffic to their tropical paradise home. With this repositioning comes a new breed of aircraft for the carrier, the A320neo which will operate the…
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Today saw the official arrival of the British Airways A350. The aircraft which was meant to arrive on Friday was delayed due to the air traffic control and weather issues at Heathrow. However, today saw no sign of either of those. Under perfectly blue skies, British Airways wheeled out the new aircraft which in reality arrived…
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ANA is in the process of making a series of comprehensive changes to the seats on domestic and international aircraft as part of its strategy to remain at the forefront of hospitality and passenger comfort for every type of flyer. The renovations will improve the Economy Class product while also increasing the number of Premium…
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Doors. This is where it all starts. Over the past few years, the differences between First Class and Business Class hard-products have become fewer and farther between. We’re now in an era where British Airways new Business Class product offers equal space and more privacy than its older First Class product. Airlines such as Qatar…
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HNA is the latest contemporary airline to bring both brand image and passenger experience inline with a holistic approach designed by UK-based company PriestmanGoode. For over two years the design studio was brought in ‘to create designs that reflect a sense of place and appeal to international passengers’. Entitled ‘Dream Feather’ the concept is…
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