The modular nature of an aircraft interior fit out always used to bug the OCD in us. Window panels and overhead bins not aligning, PSUs not perfectly spaced. Lavatories and cupboards that jutted at awkward non-sensical dimensions from the cabin walls. However, we have found our Zen here at TheDesignAir, in the form of Airbus’s…
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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…
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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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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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Our friends at Hawaiian have just released a video time-lapse of the painting of their very first ATR. Whilst we announced this a while ago, secretly we’ve been waiting for the chance to see this livery for real. The new aircraft are absolutely stunning and are yet another winning livery for the pacific –…
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Sister Airline to the award winning Cathay Pacific; Dragonair, the regional / medium-haul carrier has just announced its cabin offerings to lift the airline’s level of luxury. The most recent announcement is the launch of their First Class offering. If the seat looks familiar, that is because it is identical to Cathay Pacific’s new long-haul…
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Our good friends at Fiji Airways, winner of the best livery 2013 in our Top 10 Liveries have now extended their brand to the domestic and regional carrier Pacific Sun. Pacific Sun, since the new re-branding of Fiji’s International airline, has been at odds with the earthy colours and sophisticated cabins, although obviously the friendly and…
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This year there have been many new lounges appearing around the world. Each offering a unique level of luxury and identity that has meant a broad and interesting collection of spaces in a variety of spaces. Excellent spaces that didn’t make the list, but should still be commended, include Virgin America’s ‘The Loft‘ in LAX,…
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Air France has made a “Best&Beyond” promise to change it’s ways recently, shaking off some of the history it has steeped up over the years, and add a more contemporary ‘luxury’ feel to the airline. The French legacy carrier, like Lufthansa and British Airways, is fast becoming another bastion of European ‘luxury refined’ travel. Each…
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We are great fans of Marc Newson and what he is achieving at Qantas with regards to design. The lounges in Sydney are spectacular (and won our Top 10 Lounges last year) and his attempts at pulling the fleet into the 21st century have been very successful. (perhaps in part due to the competition arisen…
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Cathay Pacific have recently been injecting time and effort into ensuring their cabin products stay at the forefront of people’s minds. The award winning first class suite, first seen onboard in 2007 wasn’t in need of a redesign, instead, a refresh was all that was needed to keep the cabin a premium product in almost…
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Singapore Airlines has been the epitome of luxury for many years now. Many airlines look to the airline, not only for the product they have onboard, but the way that Singapore Airlines effortlessly conveys luxury and sophistication. Singapore Airlines has not failed to deliver on their latest incarnation of products which will replace the current fleets…
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Tiger Airways, now Tiger Air, has just gone through a rebranding exercise, gone the tiger, and instead a large bold logo adorns the fuselage of the aircraft. We have to say we are a little saddened by this. The tiger, whilst a little bit ‘clipart’, was a great logo, and this new logo is purely…
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Our friends, Fiji Airways, have announced the latest stage of their rebranding excercise, bringing back the original glamour and authentic of their previous incarnation of the airline. The carrier on Thursday 27th June, relaunched itself worldwide as Fiji Airways, retiring its ‘Air Pacific’ brand. The defining moment, was the reveal of the new uniforms, created by…
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We are pleased to announce our Top 10 economy classes for 2013. We have scoured the world for airlines that have really shown us something truly special. Whilst many airlines didn’t make the list, we’d like to state that generally over the past 12 months, we have seen airlines around the world innovate and renovate…
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Now that Batik Air, Lion Air’s latest ‘Premium’ venture, has been flying for a few weeks, we thought it best to take some time to take a look at this new carrier and what you can expect. Firstly, Let’s talk interiors. The whole premise of the airline is to fly passengers around the Asia region…
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Garuda Indonesia has had a resurgence in the past few years, and as part of their ‘Quantum Leap’ program announced last year, Garuda have re-launched both their first class product (whilst other carriers continue to remove their products) and ‘executive’ business class. Now available to purchase on their new 777 fleet, the product is of…
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Qantas won Lounge of the Year at Thedesignair last year, and quite rightly so. It now seems they are fighting to win yet another year with this latest lounge, based in Singapore Changi airport. Qantas International CEO, Simon Hickey, said the new lounge showcased the experiences and cuisine of Singapore. “The Singapore Lounge has been designed to…
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Meet Jordan’s latest airport. ‘The Queen Alia International Airport’ for Amman. Now officially open, this is the very latest architecture project to open in the area. Designed by countless award winning Foster + Partners, the new terminal heralds a new beginning for the airport, turning it into a competitive hub, fighting for passenger traffic between…
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KLM unveiled yesterday their brand new business class seat and cabin, which has been much anticipated for the last year. When it was announced that Hella Jongerius would be designing the cabin, there was much speculation that KLM would bring an entirely new concept to the cabin. However, from the images revealed, it seems she…
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British Airways today announced that booking has commenced for flights to Hong Kong and Los Angeles onboard their new flagship, the Airbus A380. Los Angeles will be available to book for flights commencing October 15th, and Hong Kong will commence operations on November 15th, both this year. The routes were widely expected, and fit the…
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As JAL announced today that they were launching the JAL 777 ‘Sky Suite’ interior on their New York route as of May this year, we thought we would take a look at the new product that has already been rolled out on the London route as of January 2013. JAL has always been a solid…
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Working on the Inflight Boutique for KLM for a couple of years, I personally know the hard work and effort that goes into the layout and photography of an inflight catalogue. It seems though, that KLM have lifted the bar on what we have come to expect from the world of duty free. Launched on…
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It seems there has been quite the rumour-mill going on the past week over the apparent shift in Dragonair‘s new image, after leaked images of “Cathay Dragon” appeared overnight on the internet. Whilst the photoshopping on the images make it look more like a concept than reality for now, it seems there may be more…
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Here at DesignAir we’ve been a bit of a secret fan of Delta, as we have mentioned before, they are perhaps the most ‘European’ of all the carriers, with warm and friendly service, combined with a very decent hard product and good onboard menu, we’ve never had a bad flight with them. (Although we’ve heard…
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Hawaiian Airlines seems to be on a mission to be one of the coolest and biggest carriers in the pacific. Hawaiian’s latest endevour, designed to take on the new Island Air means business. Connecting the smaller islands of Molokai and Lanai to the other islands, a new fleet of turboprops will join the Hawaiian family, except…
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When I first saw the post from Skyliners that there was a reveal of the new Iberia livery, I was hoping that it was just a mis-identified livery from some budding flight sim enthusiast. However, on notice that there was a physical photograph of the livery in work, my heart sank. Iberia in my opinion had one…
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Whilst the world waits with baited breath for the new livery for AA, and all eyes are on the 777-300ER, the first frame to show the new livery, AA have released photos of the interior of the plane’s first class cabin instead of just CGI composites. Whilst rumours are rife amongst the industry of an announcement…
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Virgin Atlantic have now finished their £100million upgrade of their Upper Class Experience, with the launch of their final renovation of the clubhouses, the Newark Lounge. Pieced together by the same creatives, Slade Architecture, that made the JFK Clubhouse, which ranked Number 2 in our Top 10 Lounges 2012, this clubhouse is leaps and bounds…
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The Delta website has always been better in many ways from its competitors, such as American or United. They have offered a clean contemporary look and design to their site for a while, and this reincarnation is no different. We have to say, it’s a truly good look to the site, which isn’t just skin…
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