It’s with great pleasure TheDesignAir’s 10th annual award winners have been announced today, celebrating the very best in aviation design, brand and passenger experience from across the globe. We’re thrilled to see airlines once again investing in passenger experience and brand, and there have been many excellent entrants and shortlisted entries this year. We’re thrilled…
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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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Award-winning Taiwanese carrier Starlux has just received its first of over a dozen new A350s, destined to start flying long-haul routes next year. As well as being the first carrier to have Airbus’ latest version of the XWB, which features an additional 4″ of internal width at the shoulder level and electronically tinted windows. While…
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While TheDesignAir Awards 2022 public vote is due to end on the 6th November, there’s still a chance for design studios, airlines and airports to enter our recently launched Design Innovation award which celebrates innovation in the passenger experience field that enhances the traveller journey. From new seats to covid innovations, sustainable service ware to…
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I’ve been saying for a while that Etihad has been repositioning itself as the leader of boutique carriers. In fact, an impromptu conversation in my hotel bar last night with two Emirati ladies reaffirmed this belief, who excitingly dubbed the carrier as more ‘exclusive and chic’ than its larger, brasher, blingier, counterparts. It seems today…
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While Lufthansa had to quietly retreat from it’s questionable 5-star Skytrax rating just a few weeks ago, to a more understandable 4-star rating, it’s no surprise that the carrier is trying to pull out all the stops to re-energise interest in the carrier which has been marred recently by news of impending strikes. Yesterday Lufthansa…
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TheDesignAir is pleased to announce the launch of this year’s Awards after returning last year. We’ve once again released our shortlist for the DesignAir Awards 2022 and just like every year, we’ve opened some of the categories to the public. It’s time for you to get involved! Now is your chance to pick from our…
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Pokemon characters certainly don’t seem scared of flying, after all, there have been multiple themed aircraft from the franchise over the years. The latest – and first to grace Taiwan – can be found on China Airlines aptly named “Pikachu Jet CI”. The design is fairly complex, and took no less than 21 days to…
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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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I was lucky enough to be invited onboard Air New Zealand’s inaugural JFK-AKL flight in September, the 4th longest flight in the world. I’ve done similar trips such as Emirates A380 LAX-DXB flights, but there’s something more unfoundedly daunting about crossing swathes of Ocean. No human likes to be stuck in a confined space for…
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After recently travelling on both Virgin Atlantic’s B787-9 and the A350 products to the US, I had the opportunity to experience both the brand-new and older Upper Class products in quick succession, and the differences were noticeable, but actually not in a way I had expected. Now this might seem a little controversial, but.. Out…
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Yesterday saw American Airlines announce a relatively needed and long-awaited refresh to its interiors programme. Bringing its long-haul and premium narrow-body cabins a whole new look was expected, and after United and Delta had rolled out its own signature Polaris and One products, American needed to step up to the mark. While the new cabins…
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Passenger seat rules and regulations regarding ergonomics haven’t really changed in decades. However, as a race, human’s have continued to evolve, and we’re getting larger and taller. This means economy seats and cabins once comfortable for passengers in the 1960’s are no longer viable for today’s traveller. In fact the CDC says between 1960 and…
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Now we aren’t saying AA’s existing lounges weren’t terrible, but apart from a handful, they weren’t much to write home about either. However the good news is that American Airlines has decided to up the ante with a redesign of its Admirals Club lounges across the United States. Customers will first experience the new look…
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Launched today in London’s still-trendy Shoreditch, Virgin Atlantic’s new A330neo product should indeed turn heads. Launching a brand new product across a small yet nimble fleet usually means that the product offering becomes increasingly fragmented, but actually the airline has stumbled upon better synergies than ever on its Transatlantic offering. Introduced on Virgin Atlantic’s 16…
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Herringbone and forward-facing staggered business class seats? The catalogue available to airlines is now seemingly never-ending, and the latest Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg this week has revealed how the industry has never been more spoiled for choice. Two of the latest entrants in to the market have come from Safran dubbed ‘VUE’ and ‘Unity’.…
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With some 6000+ narrow-body and regional jets in the US alone, there is a huge market for ‘domestic First Class’ still, and competition is heating up at the front of the plane. Delta has just shown off its new First Class product, first announced in 2020, and the MiQ seats are starting to become commonplace…
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Condor wowed us recently with a bold new brand image. Some of you might have already seen these bold stripey aircraft in the skies, which are certainly standing out on airport aprons. In fact, the intended purpose to generate interest and awareness of the brand is working, with many images popping up on social media,…
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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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Most people will have flown on a Vantage product at some point if they’ve flown business class in the past decade, and the VantageXL is the flagship version, which has been adopted by the likes of Qantas, SAS, Delta and Philippine Airlines over the years. Understanding that passenger habits and needs have adapted in the…
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Etihad has been looking to find an ecological solution to its inflight service for some time. Over the past few years the airline has been at the forefront of experimental eco-flights with everything from zero-plastic long-haul journeys to new technologies to rid the world of vapour-trails. However, the latest developments will be a welcome addition…
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Last month, we were lucky to try out SriLankan’s Business Class again, approximately 4 years since the last time, which was the first time since the pandemic, and it gave us an opportunity to see how the carrier was faring post-COVID. SriLankan has always been one of our secret favourite carriers. It often sits below…
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Today saw the official approval of Qantas’ long-awaited Project Sunrise, something that was postponed a few years due to COVID. With the announcement that the airline will order 12 A350-1000 aircraft capable of flying from Sydney direct to London and New York, which will see the longest and furthest flights in the world. But that…
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A staggering 18 months ahead of schedule, the doors to the ‘Delta Sky Way’ at LAX is now open to customers. And when LAX customers visit the new Delta terminal, they’ll have more than just a streamlined check-in experience and new designer facilities to look forward to. The new Delta Sky Club at LAX, located on the…
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The new incarnation of Virgin Australia has continued its previous tradition of offering a very special lounge to its most prestigious guests. Today saw the curtain lift on the airline’s long-awaited invitation-only private ‘Beyond Lounges’ in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, reserved for corporate partners, some high-status Velocity Frequent Flyer members and key opinion leaders throughout…
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LATAM took a fairly surprising (and welcome) decision to completely revamp its still fairly modern signature ground product in Santiago de Chile, which only opened back in 2015. The brand-new LATAM Lounge has just opened its doors for its preferred passengers and LATAM’s partner airline members, including while waiting for their flight. The new space,…
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Heading over to Abu Dhabi to experience Etihad’s brand new A350 I was able to also experience the carrier’s 787 for the very first time. While the product is now a few years old, it was useful to see how the product was still standing up against the competition and how the two products –…
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Condor revealed perhaps the bravest new livery and brand image today we’ve seen in a decade. Actively opting to shun its previous looks and celebrate its leisure market, the airline has adopted a bold new, deck chair and beach towel inspired (I kid you not) livery. No, it’s not April 1st, and we did have…
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Etihad has always been a challenger brand in the Middle East, even if it’s not the youngest of the carriers. Often shadowed by its much larger, blingier cousin Emirates, and self-styled luxury carrier Qatar Airways, Etihad has had a bigger hill to climb, either winning market share, or the hearts and wallets of this lucrative…
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As the world of wide-bodied cabin & seat design has reached a critical plateau, all eyes are turning to the new narrow-bodied long-haul market which will become an increasingly important part of point-to-point long-haul strategy in the months and years ahead. While the ‘Jet Set Era’ offered transcontinental flights on narrow-body aircraft decades ago, it…
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