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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Saudia Airlines, often overlooked, is evolving amid regional competition. With a focus on modernity and traditional hospitality, its First Class experience stands out for service excellence, including onboard chefs and trained butlers. While the hard product awaits updates, the airline positions itself as a serious contender against major Middle Eastern carriers.
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Lufthansa is the latest airline to upgrade its lounge in Heathrow Terminal 2. Now reopen, the recently renovated lounge is situated in the main terminal area, making it the favourable Star Alliance lounge for the group’s airlines operating narrowbody aircraft into Heathrow. Heathrow’s A gates only accept narrow body aircraft, and airlines like Aegean, Brussels,…
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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you might not know that New York’s ‘hometown airline’ JetBlue has been operating across the Atlantic for almost two years, offering a value proposition to the full-service concept on the highly competitive route between JFK and London. Although it’s taken us a few months to sort a trip,…
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With today’s announcement, American Express opens yet another Centurion Lounge this year, at London Heathrow Airport (LHR). Located in Terminal 3. This will be the brand’s first Centurion Lounge in Europe but American Express’ third Centurion Lounge to open this year. It’s no small lounge either. Spanning over 7,000 square feet (650 square meters), the…
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Last week saw the announcement of Virgin Atlantic’s return to service, with first flights taking wing on the 20th July to Orlando and Hong Kong, with New York (JFK) Los Angeles and Shanghai following suit the very next day. Following destinations will be announced in the following week for flights commencing at the start of…
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British Airways just celebrated its centenary year and as part of its new year’s resolutions (Happy New Year everyone!) the carrier has hinted at some much needed upgrades to its Heathrow lounge complexes. 2019 saw the carrier bring a host of new lounge designs to its network including San Francisco, Geneva, New York and Milan.…
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Today saw the official arrival of the British Airways A350. The aircraft which was meant to arrive on Friday was delayed due to the air traffic control and weather issues at Heathrow. However, today saw no sign of either of those. Under perfectly blue skies, British Airways wheeled out the new aircraft which in reality arrived…
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SAS For many, the arrivals hall will be a large part of Christmas with many of us either travelling or having relatives or friends travelling to their loved ones. This timeless video by SAS, released not just for Christmas, showcases an often overlooked part of the passenger experience. “The Arrivals” campaign imagery and film are…
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While all eyes are currently on Singapore Airlines’ A350 ULR service between Newark and Singapore, currently the world’s longest flight at over 18 hours, we take an exclusive behind the scenes look at one of the airlines’ latest A380s while it’s on the ground in Heathrow. You can see our other article on the aircraft…
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While Norwegian may have recently taken the crown of flying more passengers across the Atlantic to New York area as a non-US carrier – a long-standing honour recently held by British Airways – the legacy carrier has just shown why sometimes its not just about size, but how you do it, that counts. British Airways…
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Heathrow can be stressful sometimes (although we’ve had our fair share of excellent experiences too and usually can get from gate to tube on a good day in just 6 minutes) however, if your flight is delayed or connecting flight is on the other side of the terminal, then British Airways’ new enhanced services for…
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Heathrow has no less than forty-something lounges across the expansive airport, but the offering can vary substantially, so selecting the right lounge can be a bit of a challenge. For those fellow aviation nuts out there though, the airport does offer a range of lounges with excellent views of the runways and apron, making spotting…
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Yes, these sparkly new seats are on British Airways, in fact they are already being rolled out on the carrier’s ‘sunshine routes’ from their hub in Gatwick. Retrofitting their fleet of 777s means they are removing some of their business class cabin to fit a larger World Traveller Plus cabin and even sneak in a…
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To celebrate the launch of its new fleet of Airbus A350-900s from London to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines recently launched their new amenity kits for Business Class and First Class passengers. Malaysia Airlines and Formia have introduced a new luxury “pleasant gift” concept. Offered to First Class passengers, the amenity kit gift collection includes ‘his and her’ amenity…
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Qantas will finally welcome customers into a new spacious Qantas London Lounge at Heathrow Airport as of tomorrow, as the airline counts down to its non-stop 787 Dreamliner flights between London and Australia. Qantas has invested on one of its most prestigious routes, spending the past 12 months creating a dedicated lounge at Heathrow as…
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A new Plaza Premium Lounge has opened for travellers in London Heathrow Terminal 5 this week. It is the first lounge in the terminal for Plaza Premium Group offering spectacular views across the runway. This now means that Plaza Premium Lounges can be found in all Heathrow terminals – with lounges already operational in Terminals…
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British Airways has just revamped its award-winning flagship Concorde Room at Heathrow T5, exclusive to British Airways’ customers travelling in the airline’s First cabin. The refurb has once again drawn inspiration from the ‘very best’ of British Design. The refurbishment to the airline’s exclusive lounge included re-upholstering iconic pieces of furniture, and adding new feature pieces to the…
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We expect the news of British Airways’ new partnership will bright a sigh of relief to frequent fliers of the airline. The White Company and British Airways today announced its plans to improve the bedding and amenity kit offering for Business Class passengers, following similar moves from the likes of Delta, SAS and United. Later this year,…
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Flight: AF1681 Aircraft Type: B787-9 Class: Business Class Route: LHR-CDG Date: March 2017 http://www.airfrance.com Air France started flying their 787-9 between CDG and LHR earlier this year, training staff on the aircraft before it commences its long haul duties. While only a short hop across the English Channel, it gives passengers a chance to experience the new product before committing…
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Cathay Pacific have finally previewed their latest outstation lounge in Terminal 3 of London’s Heathrow Airport. Featuring separate First and Business Class areas, the London lounge which has been long awaited, matches the design template that Stusdioilse has brought to the other recent lounge openings. The lounge, which officially opens its doors on Wednesday, 7 December features…
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American Airlines have just opened a contemporary new-look lounge in one of their key destinations, London’s Heathrow Terminal 3. This is just one of the many locations to receive some love that American Announced at the beginning of the year. Gone is the drab traditional interior, instead, there is an almost Mad Men feel to the main space.…
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Flight: TG911 Aircraft Type: A380-800 Class: ‘Royal Silk’ Business Class Route: LHR-BKK Date: June 2016 http://www.thaiairways.com We were lucky enough to fly on Thai Airways almost twenty years ago, one of our first long haul flights as a kid, and since then, the airline has always stuck in our hearts. We remember orchid flowers being distributed to passengers and that…
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Flight: AF456 Aircraft Type: B777-200 Class: Business Class Route: CDG-GRU Date: April 2016 http://www.airfrance.com Ever since our failed chance to experience Air France’s new business class last year, we’ve been keen for another opportunity to experience Air France’s latest and acclaimed new hard product, that has moved the carriers 2 x 3 x 2 seating to a 1 x 2…
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Emirates just announced their fourth daily flight to Dubai from London Gatwick airport, filling the large gap between the lunchtime and evening flight. Starting October 1st, the flight will take off at 16.50, it’s the perfect addition to the airline’s extensive nine other daily flights from the UK Capital. With six flights from London Heathrow and four from Gatwick,…
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In our exclusive interview with designer Ilse Crawford from StudioIlse, we reveal that the new London Heathrow Lounge will be the first redesigned lounge to feature both First Class and Business Class areas for passengers. The designer is the same creative force behind the new wave of Cathay Pacific lounges, including the Pier First Class Lounge and new…
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British Airways will bring a fourth three-class 777 to London Gatwick this winter, meaning the carrier will have a 12 strong fleet of long haul aircraft based at the second busiest airport in London. The extra aircraft will mean the airline can also launch its three times a week service to Cape Town, supplementing its already…
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London seems to be gaining a lot of new lounges this year, with OneWorld carriers Cathay Pacific and Qantas both giving a facelift to their ground operations. The Australia carrier announced last week that the next location for its flagship global lounge will be at Heathrow airport with construction to begin in September 2016. While T3 in…
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With the recent arrival (end of last year) of its first Boeing 787 up to a total of 19, Aeromexico become the first airline in Mexico and the number 14th around the world to operate the aircraft. Aeromexico are proud of their 787, which will now operate on the flagship London Heathrow route. With the new arrival…
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Over the past few years, thedesignair.net team based in London have seen the 1955 version of Terminal 2 get knocked down and rebuilt ready for 2014, and its now starting to become one of the best examples of terminal architecture the UK have seen for a while. They say the devil is in the detail,…
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