The never ending game of cat and mouse between the US3 carriers is playing dividends for the inflight and ground customer experience in the USA. A region that was once a decade behind the rest of the world when it came to cabin interiors, has fast become a hot-bed of creativity and world-standard hard products.…
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Last week, Airbus opened its paint hangar doors in Mirabel and let us peek inside where the latest aircraft is being painted for Air Canada. Instead of the usual black and white ‘Raccoon mask’ livery that Air Canada is now sporting across its fleet, the airline has opted to nod to its history, revealing its…
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Uganda Airlines might not be on everyones radar. But that’s because until last week, the carrier just operated a modest fleet of four Bombardier CRJ900’s. Resurrected from its predecessor that last flew in 2001, the latest incarnation spread its wings a little over a year ago, but seemingly has big plans. With aircraft bought by…
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WestJet might not be the first brand that comes to mind when announcing a new Flagship lounge considering its half-dozen fleet of long-haul aircraft. But the airline is certainly looking to craft a niche for itself as the airline of choice for Canadian travellers. Dubbed ‘Elevation’, WestJet’s new lounge in Calgary spans more than 9,300…
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Tomorrow will see the opening of a new and improved American Express lounge in Sydney Airport, replacing its smaller predecessor. Located near Gates 50-63 at Sydney Airport’s T1 International terminal, the new lounge now spans over 600 sq m. The lounge is operated by global premium airport hospitality specialists Plaza Premium Group and offers guests…
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No1 Lounges seems to be getting deeper and deeper in to bed with airlines across the world, and has just launched its latest airport lounge partnership with Virgin Australia at Brisbane Airport’s International Terminal. This follows the opening of The House at Sydney and Melbourne in 2018 and their pre-existing partnership with Etihad. The new lounge…
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For anyone that travels in premium cabins a lot, there seem to be a few moving goalposts when it comes to an internationally standardised product. Where some carriers believe business class comes with all bells and whistles, such as chauffeur drive, the same carrier might not believe in pyjamas. While some offer dine on demand,…
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There are a few times in the past few years I’ve been proud of the advancements in service levels across all cabins, and this is one of them. Delta seems to be bucking the trend of shredding any passenger comforts away and de-bundling the inflight experience. In one bold statement made today, the airline has…
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American has just opened its latest lounge in the airline’s largest hub, in Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) where the airline is seeing continued growth. This follows the LAX Flagship lounge which opened earlier this year. The Flagship Lounge, located in Terminal D spans over 23,000 square feet, with seating for up to 350…
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Priestmangoode today announced a new cabin design for LATAM’s fleet of aircraft. Following the design company’s short haul aircraft interiors, PriestmanGoode has worked with LATAM to design new cabin interiors for the South American carrier as part of its vision to offer passengers “a travel experience with more options, flexibility and personalisation.” The new cabin interiors…
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Air Canada passengers travelling from New York’s LaGuardia rejoice. The new lounge is now officially open. Opened at the start of December, this new space signals the opening of the new Eastern concourse at Terminal B. The new lounge, conveniently located after security near Air Canada’s gates features popular amenities, including refreshments and a business centre,…
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After three years of the current incarnation, ANA is just about to release a brand new inflight safety video. Following the trend of departing from the standard dry information piece, the airline has injected an element of humour and locale by utilising the historic Japanese cultural form of Kabuki theatre. The video will be shown…
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Starting Next Monday, April 30, customers booked in United Polaris – the airline’s name for international business class – will be able to relax and dine prior to their travels or refresh upon arrival in the new United Polaris lounge at San Francisco International Airport conveniently located in the International Terminal near Gate G92. The lounge,…
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United has just announced it will be launching its own International-standard Premium Economy product this year. Titled Premium Plus (Merging both ‘Economy Plus’ and ‘Premium Economy’ monikers) this new cabin may cause confusion for passengers booking the cabin class. However, those travelling in it will enjoy “more space, comfort and amenities. The seats will be…
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Flight: KA361 Aircraft Type: A330-300 Class: Business Class Route: DPS-HKG Date: November 2017 http://www.cathapacific.com We are big fans of Cathay Pacific at TheDesignAir, that’s no real secret. We love the carriers ground product, with wealth of stylish lounges and super easy to navigate home base of Hong Kong International Airport, but Cathay Dragon, the now-aligned sister carrier always seemed in…
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ANA has recently opened its brand new ANA Suite Lounge and the renovation of the ANA domestic lounge at the Sapporo (New Chitose) airport, which celebrates the local landscape and culture. “The overall design concept of the new lounges is ‘Ichigo ichie’ which translates as ‘treasure every encounter as if it were once in a…
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“My parts are showing? Oh, my goodness.” Excellent news Jedis. Japan’s largest airline ANA announced that two more of its planes will be decorated with Star Wars characters as part of an agreement with The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd. BB-8, a brand new character from Star Wars: The Force Awakens scheduled for theatrical release in December 2015, will be displayed on the…
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You may have already spotted these new kits, but starting this month, American Airlines have upgraded the premium experience for its customers and paying tribute to the proud history of its employees around the world with all-new amenity kits for most international and transcontinental flights, featuring special, limited edition kits that honor nine airlines that laid…
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Although we announced the introduction of this seat almost a year ago today, the final touches have finally been completed and the newest business class seating was showcased today to the media. The Thomson Vantage XL seat has been fully customised to offer Qantas passengers the very best in comfort and technology. In a world…
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We released just the other day the news of the new Cathay Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport. But for those unfortunate folks not travelling on Cathay or a OneWorld carrier shouldn’t dismay! Plaza Premium’s latest lounge in Hong Kong, which is a pay-as-you-go lounge is open to all travellers at the airport for a…
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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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