China Airlines, often underrated, impresses with its cohesive design and passenger experience. Notable for innovative interiors and cozy lounges, it offers a dual fleet of A321neo and A350 aircraft. Excellent service, thoughtful amenities, and gourmet meals shine, despite minor areas for improvement. The airline evolves steadily, reflecting Taiwanese charm throughout.
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LOT Polish Airlines is undergoing a significant transformation aimed at elevating its status among European airlines by 2026. This includes modernizing its fleet with new Airbus A220s and renovated 737 MAX 8 interiors, enhancing in-flight dining with Michelin-star collaborations, and improving lounge experiences, establishing a consistent and premium passenger journey.
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Brussels Airlines celebrates a decade of special liveries with the latest design, “The Atomium,” honoring Belgium’s creativity and pride. Architect Thomas Faes won a competition to realize the concept, which involved significant collaboration and technical refinement. The aircraft’s interior thematically complements the exterior, enriching the passenger experience with historical insights.
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Avianca has finally brought a much needed new lounge to Miami’s J concourse, giving more options to Star Alliance premium passengers flying from this popular US gateway. Partnering with TAP Air Portugal, this is Avianca’s 11th lounge globally, and with more than a dozen flights a day, Miami is a key international destination for the…
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Turkish Airlines has launched its Istanbul-Sydney route, initially using the Boeing 777-300ER but now operating with the superior Airbus A350-900. The journey includes a refueling stop in Kuala Lumpur and celebrates exceptional in-flight service, dining, and luxurious lounges in Istanbul. Future plans include nonstop flights, enhancing travel between Europe and Australia.
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Beond is an interesting proposition. Through the hype and slightly clumsy press launch, there’s a glimmer of something quite adventurous that could actually work once the kinks are ironed out. Connecting via Dubai certainly doesn’t make for a luxurious experience from Europe to the Maldives, but it’s no different to how many already get there.…
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It might have been a long time coming, infact, we’ve known about this rebrand for a while, but Eurowings Discover has finally broken free of its Eurowings shackles to become an airline in it’s own right. And yes, yet another airline in Lufthansa’s grand arsenal of airline brands. Pitched clearly as a competitor to rival…
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A Foster + Partners and Buro Happold consortium has won the competition to design the new CPK airport between Warsaw and Łódź. “The pivotal project will act as a symbolic gateway to Poland, a 21st century transport interchange which brings together air, rail and road, while reflecting the country’s national identity and providing exceptional passenger experience,”…
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SAS has just revealed its photos of its new A321LR cabin. The transatlantic narrow body joins the carrier’s wide-body fleet in connecting the two continents, but trying to keep the same passenger experience touch-points across fundamentally different airframes was a difficult ask. While the airline sadly hasn’t been able to provide all aisle access, by…
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KLM has just received its latest addition to the fleet, a brand new Embraer E2, which will become an important aircraft for the Dutch carrier as it looks to modernise its regional fleet. The new 195-E2 aircraft type is both quieter and more economical than its predecessor the Embraer 190. Seven new aircraft of this…
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British Airways has today announced that it will be partnering with celebrated, British Michelin-starred chef, Tom Kerridge, who has designed a number of gourmet food items, which include signature pies and sandwiches, to pre-purchase for the airline’s Euro Traveller (short haul economy) customers. “The move marks a renewed focus on the short haul customer…
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TAP Portugal is well known as one of the cheapest Star Alliance carriers, however, with the addition of its new Airbus Neo fleet, the aging business class cabin (albeit comfortable) has been given a new lease of life thanks to brand new Recaro seats.
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COVID-19 has certainly kept airlines on their toes, and while many airlines are frantically trying to get their operations off the ground once again, there’s been an unusual, yet somewhat expected side effect. For years airlines have strived to become lifestyle brands, as relevant in the home as they are in the skies. The problem…
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Finnair has just released a limited edition range of amenity kits for passengers travelling in the airline’s long-haul business class cabin. Released just in time to celebrate Chinese New Year, the airline has taken its existing Marimekko kits which are currently in the airline’s navy colour and re-imagined them. With a new red and gold…
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TheDesignAir is thrilled to announce the 2019 award winners as voted for by our esteemed judging panel and our readers. Year after year, we see more improvements and enhancements across the passenger experience, from narrow to wide bodies to lounges and airports around the globe. We showcase the 2019 winners here.
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Last week KLM officially opened its completely renovated non-Schengen Crown Lounge at Schiphol Airport. The lounge far outperforms the pervious incarnation, and celebrates new food and beverage concepts including it’s pay-for Blue restaurant. KLM’s non-Schengen Crown Lounge (the official name) is located between the E and F piers at Schiphol. The “KLM House” is identifiable…
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British Airways has just unveiled the latest in its lounge developments, re-opening the newly refurbished lounge in Geneva as part of its huge ongoing investment in the customer experience which includes other new lounges in Rome, San Francisco, Johannesburg and New York’s JFK. The lounge follows a new design concept for the airline, which debuted…
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If you haven’t travelled through Istanbul’s newest behemoth airport yet, you’re certainly in for a surprise. It certainly dwarves the previous airport and it couldn’t be more different. Light, airy and architecturally stunning, it’s a true gateway hub for the region and has set a standard for global airports for the next decade to come.…
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TheDesignAir is pleased to announce the shortlist for the DesignAir Awards 2019 and just like last couple of years, we’ve opened some of the categories to the public. The voting is now closed! Now is your chance to pick from our shortlisted categories for Best Design Airline, by region, across the globe. All it takes…
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You may not be aware, but KLM has just celebrated of 100 years of flying the skies. Launched October 7th 1919, the carrier has had a long life, growing its network and brand over the years. To celebrate this important milestone, the airline has adopted a range of brand activities including a brand new Delft…
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Turkish Airlines has taken their position as a leading European carrier one step further this week with two small luxury additions, but showcase the airline’s never ending improvement to the hard and soft products available onboard. Turkish has just announced two new amenity kits for its long-haul routes, one in Business and amazingly, a fully-fledged…
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It’s incredible that WestJet has already launched its 787 Dreamliner service to European hubs including Dublin, London Gatwick and Paris, but following the introduction of these new services, WestJet has now added a few little improvements to make the flight that little bit more memorable across WestJet’s global network. Celebrating WestJet’s authentic Canadian roots, that…
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It’s no surprise that we are slightly enamoured with Philippine Airlines, especially in the last few years where the carrier has invested heavily in to its hard and soft product. The upgraded 777s and the brand-spanking-new A350s push the carrier well above its previous product offering, and is fast becoming an interesting alternative to the…
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Turkish Airlines continues to impress us. We are experiencing a new dawn at the airline, which already carries well over 65million passengers per annum. Today saw the reveal of the airline’s new uniform which replaces the somewhat-dated previous threads which were sadly never going to turn heads. Instead this new collection from Milan-based Haute Couturier Ettore…
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Flybe, Europe’s regional airline has gone through quite a few guises over the years, however the latest livery finally gets rid of the British European colours, instead opting for a duotone approach to the livery with two shades of purple on a simple white paint scheme. The livery is smart, but sadly does lack the…
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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…
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Turkish Airlines has just received its new A321Neo aircraft. The aircraft, which will be deployed on its short and medium haul routes. The aircraft also features the Airbus Cabin Flex configuration, which has removed the usual door positions locating them over the wing, to allow for more passenger space and a more seamless cabin plan.…
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Flight: UL506 Aircraft Type: A330-300 Class: Business Class Route: LHR-CMB Date: February 2018 http://www.srilankan.com SriLankan Airlines recently added two daytime flights per week from London to Colombo, flying on Saturdays and Sundays, providing better connections and more convenient departure times. This now makes the airline even more attractive to passengers looking for one-stop carriers between London and the Maldives, Sri…
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This week saw the announcement of a new, smart and sophisticated design flourish to Finnair’s business and economy cabins. Supporting the new fabrics and amenity kit designs in business class, is a new service concept, allowing passengers to eat on demand. Inspired by pure essentials, Nordic design and meaningful encounters, Finnair’s new service concept will offer a wider range of dining and…
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September saw the launch of Garuda Indonesia’s high-quality signature dishes of Chef Agus Hermawan. For the next four months, on the non-stop route from Amsterdam to Jakarta, Executive Manager of Ron Gastrobar Indonesia – one of the 5 top restaurants of Master Chef Ron Blaauw – will star in the airline’s Business Class menus. Garuda Indonesia…
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