Norway’s Kristiansand might only have a population of 82,000 at last count, but a local Ice-cream businessman believes that the town needs it’s own airline. Not only that, but he’s willing to start the airline up himself. Now just to clarify, ‘Virtual’ airlines aren’t ones that you’ll find on flight-sim, but instead business and brand…
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There has been much in the way of rumor-mongering going on throughout the internet of American’s first 777-300ER’s paint scheme, as caught on camera by Russell Hill recently at Boeing’s Paine Field plant. What is visible on American’s registered (but not yet complete) aircraft, is an apparent solution to the new composite bodies that modern airliners…
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Now I have a feeling this is going to be a “Marmite/Vegimite” of liveries. You are either going to love it, or hate it. But Fiji Airways rebranding gets a big thumbs up from TheDesignAir. When first mentioned on TheDesignAir we highlighted the fact that Fiji was going back to it’s roots with it’s new name.…
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Now, if you have travelled on Brussels Airlines in business class recently, or one of Delta’s, or even Swiss for that matter, this wouldn’t come as news to you. As this seat is very similar to those offered by these other carriers. This new seating arrangement offered by Austrian Airlines, whilst saving space, gives everyone…
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As promised, here at DesignAir we evaluated airlines around the world to compile our definitive Top 10 list of Cool Airline Brands. Let us know if you agree, whether you think we’ve missed one, or what your top 10 would be at the bottom of the page! 10. Southwest Southwest Airlines could be seen as a…
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Streuth! It’s hard not to report about the Virgin group of airlines right now, as they just keep on doing things right. We, here at TheDesignAir love this brand new commercial from Virgin Australia. Turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy! Slick, clean, and super retro, they are really trying to hark back to the…
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United Economy Report Flight: UA1717 Aircraft Type: B767-400 Class: Economy (Coach) Route: HNL – SFO Date: 26th September 2012 Best for: ‘Blandalised’ travelers, looking for a cheap seat, and nothing else. Most likely to sit next to: (on this route) An aging surfer dreaming of times gone by, or an armada of Japanese tourists. Business…
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Virgin Atlantic managed to top the polls in the CoolBrands List. The CoolBrands List has been running for 11 years and has featured the sexy red airline rather a lot. Sir Richard Branson’s airline was one of only two airlines to place, along with British Airways, However Virgin Atlantic placed 8th coolest brand in the…
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There is something to be said about UK advertising. It is some of the best in the world. Thomson’s latest advert currently screened on TV is somewhat reminiscent of the BA campaigns ‘To Fly to Serve’ seen on British TV before the Olympics. This move to nostalgia is quite common now, as coming out of a recession its…
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Dining: Qatar Airways has yet again, gone above and beyond to try and create a truly unique product to compete with it’s slightly larger Middle Eastern counterparts. Four International chefs have been drafted in to enhance and develop their First Class and Business Class menu offerings flying from Doha in Qatar. The award-winning Chef Ramzi Choueiri,…
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No real surprises that Virgin America sweeped the board, hosted in their home state, at the Passenger Choice Awards 2012 yesterday in Long Beach California (September 17th), pulling in a whopping 4 awards, encompassing Overall Passenger Experience (Up to 50 IFE equipped in fleet), Best in Region (Americas), Best User Interface and Best Cabin Ambiance.…
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It seems the long-gone era of glamorous travel is fast diminishing, due to technological advances in the industry. Passengers are losing their connection to the airlines that they fly with, airlines are losing the communication points they used to have. ‘Tea? Coffee?” might be the only two words that a passenger could hear from their…
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There has been a bit of excitement running through the net recently of Apple’s impending iPhone launch, and with it, iOS 6, the new operating system, hosting a plethora of nifty new now-must-have-apps. The most important, and perhaps exciting to hit the airline industry is Passbook. Passbook seems to be a relatively nifty idea, sorting…
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Today, 09 September 2012, marks the news of one of the industry’s most influential CEOs stepping down from his position as CEO of Virgin Atlantic. Steve Ridgeway started his career with Virgin Atlantic in 1989 when he was appointed Managing Director of the industry’s first automated frequent flyer programme, Virgin Freeway. In 1994, he was…
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Singapore Airlines has always been seen as a global market leader so it doesn’t surprise to hear they have launched a plan to roll out their in-flight offering of WiFi from their current 14 aircraft out to their entire fleet. This will also mean that mobile phone data services can be enabled, allowing the humble…
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So, for those of you who have been following my posts will probably be expecting this report. It’s safe to say I’ve been confident that a ‘Virgin America’ product would end up over in Europe, recently covering such a concept in this Report. Virgin Atlantic have launched a 3 times daily return connection between Heathrow…
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Raising the question ‘Will we ever learn?’ Hong Kong Airlines seems to have dropped it’s premium flights between Hong Kong and London Gatwick, only months after starting them. Add this to the recent news that the all-business class Singapore Airlines flights between Singapore and JFK now offer economy seating in them to bolster yields as…
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US Airways isn’t really a market leader in many ways. Their cabins are still dated and for most internal flights, entertainment consists of an inflight magazine and either a rather boring game of eye-spy or completing a half-done sudoku. However, US Airways does have miniture strokes of genius from time to time, usually spurred on…
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Perhaps slightly strangely named, the ‘OZ’ suite (after their airline code) has been revealed by Asiana Airlines. Asiana is one of my favourite airlines, quietly confident in their offering, very stylish and very reserved, there is something almost ‘Swiss’ about them. Whilst this suite isn’t anything really that new for those that have travelled on…
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Hawaii’s second longest running airline Island Air has just launched a new look for its fleet and website. Bright and colourful isn’t something new to the airline, the brand has always had fun liveries, however this feels a lot more considered and professional whilst maintaining it’s bright ‘Aloha’ spirit. The lei (garland of flowers) logo…
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So if you haven’t heard about the fairly radical new uniform for Virgin America, being launched across their fleet 8th August this year, here’s a cool behind the scenes look at their new uniform, designed by San Fran neighbours Banana Republic. It’s great to see the attention of detail that goes into the design of…
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United have announced on their facebook page that their 787 will have a new look to it’s livery. To quote their site, “Our 787 fleet will be painted with the globe livery but will get its own unique twist: the gold line along both sides of the fuselage will feature a special swoop from nose to…
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Swoon. It’s no real surprise that Virgin America kept it’s probably now rather weighty crown of Best Domestic Airline in the US this year, it’s 5th year in a row. For those of thinking ‘Fix! Fix!’ It’s hard to say it is, as this award is voted by readers of Travel and Leisure magazine, rather…
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California Pacific Airlines might be a little upstart airline in the Californian sun compared to its rather large legacy competitors, however, the Californian’s do like the underdog. And with that in mind, look at how big Apple is today… perhaps this airline with very small roots could shoot up to become a bit of a…
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So for those of you who don’t know about new start-up FastJet, it is the new venture run by Stelios, the original easyJet guru who helped create the phenomenon of the low cost carrier. This venture is touted as the new ‘easyJet’ of Africa and whilst it most likely will have to compete with a variety of…
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British Airways who have always taken more of an ‘atmospheric’ attitude towards their advertising campaigns compared to VA, their competitor’s, product led advertising strategy as of late, has taken a new direction. No doubt, off the back of Heston Blumenthal’s TV programme that highlighted the challenges found onboard airlines for their catering offering due to…
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So Malaysia Airlines is the latest airline to get hold of their brand-spanking-new-shiny-flying-office-block of a plane, the A380. Malaysia have been keen to push their product offering forward with the launch of their new fleet of 6 mega planes. On board chef’s for first class passengers, lie flat seats for business passengers and Thales entertainment…
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So. Here it is, after my first post, the much anticipated big bird. Yellow is the colour of the day with Scoot. Large swooshes of yellow flow across the 777 they are using for their low cost long haul route network. Whilst I’m trying to remain fully objective over this, I can’t help but cringe…
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Troubled Mexicana had only recently launched its new livery when they went down due to financial difficulties back in 2010. So it never really got the outing it deserved. But only today was it suggested by an article on ATW that Mexicana will possibly come back to the skies on June 9th using a fleet…
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Spot the difference… Yes! you are right. The second plane is different… a 737 (737-300) compared to the Airbus. (well… if you are colour blind that would be the only difference…) In all seriousness though Viva Colombia will be launching in a few days time from it’s base in Medelín, Colombia. The fact the two…
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