No, not that Richard Wilson, but sculptor Richard Wilson has been commissioned to create a new sculpture to fill the hall of the brand new Terminal 2 at London’s Heathrow Airport. Aptly dubbed ‘Slipstream’, the sculpture will fill the length of terminal’s Covered Court, twisting across the atrium’s columns and physically integrating with the architecture.…
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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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Whilst those of you that have seen Air Pacific planes might be a little confused by this press release issued by the airline (due to the fact the airline’s livery has a huge ‘Fiji’ written on the tailfin), the old airline is being reborn. Fiji Airways (Air Pacific’s original name) will become the brand name…
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We’ve had doves, giant ladies in bikinis and even killer whales gracing the air, and now Alaska Airlines‘ big old flying fish is coming back to the skies later this year. The largest flying (and perhaps only flying) salmon is being painted on the side of a 737-800 a longer airframe compared to the predecessor fish which…
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British Airways have been busy with their paint recently. After the rather questionable ‘Dove‘ that British Airways touted as their London 2012 celebratory livery, they’ve gone and created a whole new one – strangely to much less fanfare! This livery is due to the fact this very Airbus A319 will be bringing the Olympic torch…
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“Hello Mum? Yes, it’s me. I’m on the plane. I’ll be 30 minutes early.” Yes. It’s official, Virgin Atlantic have decided that mobile phone calls are a good idea in the plane, making themselves a British leader once again in aviation. Whilst this is a relatively new trend to travellers it will be interesting to…
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There is something quite charming about looking at the new Mais Lineas Aereas livery on their Fokker 100 fleet. It’s like stepping back in time wearing that favourite retro t-shirt you have washed too many times so it’s shrunk in the wash but can’t let go of. For me, it’s like looking at the DC9 or…
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American Airlines today have possibly jumped on the Weber seat bandwagon with a newly refreshed cabin product. As part of this redesign, American’s entire fleet of 777-200ERs will have fully lie-flat Business Class seats with aisle access for every seat, international Wi-Fi, in-seat entertainment throughout all cabins, and Main Cabin Extra seating offering more legroom. The 767-300ERs will…
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So Alaska Airlines has in been some pretty itchy territory in the past few weeks with reports that 10% of their cabin crew have complained their uniforms give them rashes and some have suffered hair loss. Alaska have been quick to remedy the situation by offering alternative uniforms to all affected. The good news for the…
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Tony Fernandes, CEO of Air Asia, Tune Hotels and team principal of the Caterham F1 group has recently tweeted his latest ‘Weekend Uniform’ for his Air Asia cabin crew. Whilst this ‘dressed down’ look of Short sleeve shirts and jeans looks more like easyJet’s original outfits, it’s definitely continuing the feel of F1 within his fleet of…
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Taking a leaf from the new wave of North American carriers who have already introduced ‘Premium Economy’ to their fleet to cross the big divide from Economy and Business, a struggling Air Canada is currently in RnD to develop and introduce a ‘Premium Economy’ to their fleet. This will be a major draw to Air…
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Good news Singaporeans! With Scoot soon launching its services from Singapore to Australia, they’ve taken a decision to utilise the aircraft movements in between their medium-long haul flights by adding a daily service to Bangkok and 4 time weekly service to Tianjin. Whilst no photos have been released of the Scoot product yet (As soon as they…
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Qatar Airways, a 5 star airline that truly deserves its airline ranking, seems to be really pushing forward with an aggressive expansion plan. Today, May 2nd 2012, marks a USD$2billion investment from Qatar into the New Doha International Airport, as the country looks to expand the airport to cope with the constant increase in growth…
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The Abu Dhabi Executive Council has given the green light for contracts to be awarded for a brand new airport terminal at Abu Dhabi International airport. A statement said the council had approved the “awarding of contracts” for the long-awaited Dh25bn Midfield terminal at Abu Dhabi International Airport, which would accommodate up to 27 million passengers a…
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Garuda Indonesia unveiled their expansion plans at the Arabian Travel Market this week aptly called their ‘Quantum Leap’ program. They plan on increasing their fleet size more than twice fold by 2015 to a staggering 194 aircraft. Garuda has had a checkered past. Back in 2009 the airline, along with other Indonesian carriers, were banned…
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Thai Airways have launched their new subsidiary Thai Smile this week, the new ‘pseudo’ low cost wing of Thai Airways following a mantra of “Trendy-Friendly-Worthy”. Commencing operations on July 1st, they will be operating a fleet of 4 A320’s. This new airline will focus on short haul destinations from Bangkok to Asia and India. This…
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Whilst this hasn’t been officially released by Lufthansa, German newspaper Bild has reported through sources close to the airline that they are planning on launching a new low-cost unit (similar to the recent launch of IAG’s Iberia’s new Iberia Express) The new airline has been dubbed ‘Direct 4 You’ and will basically be an amalgamation of Germanwings…
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Wow Air, Iceland’s Newest Airline have created a full TV commercial to generate interest in their product. Whilst really keeping it as a sneak peak into what the airline might be, it definitely will generate a buzz. I have to say, as a pilot, it’s a bit of fun, if not a little cliché, but it obviously…
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Virgin Atlantic doesn’t seem to disappoint with its new onboard Upper Class offering. Now available for view on their website, the brand new product is similar to that of the previous product, but it seems slicker, more streamlined, a lot more contemporary, and comfortable. The famour purple leather seat is gone, replaced with a slick…
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Vladimir the Bat, Samson the Sloth, Doug the Dung Beetle, Chloe the Chipmunk and Enrique the Tree Frog seem like characters from a Disney film, however, they were the competitors against the winner ‘Polly the Parrot’ to become Frontier Airlines new Spokesanimal. Frontier whilst struggling in the North American market, have to have some of…
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Before the merger of United and Continental, United offered a plethora (not often I get to use that word!) of bolt-on options for your flight, from sending your luggage before you, to extra leg room, lounge access, priority security clearance, priority check in. These are apparently great revenue streams for the airline, all which have…
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Today was the launch of BA’s new site (well, sort of) with a new homepage with a big splash of inspirational images and more contemporary design. Whilst the website front page is a fantastic step in the right direction, and seemingly a vague copy of the new Virgin Atlantic homepage, British Airways have also made…
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Now, the Dutch are forward thinkers, and innovative, and have recently pushed a new scheme onboard based on your facebook or linkedin accounts. You are now able to sit next to like minded individuals as selected by certain parameters on your likes and information stored on your profile. Obviously this sounds like a great idea, especially if…
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Well, here it is! Bingo Airways’ new livery for their new A320 fleet. Bingo Airways is the new Polish Charter airline, who is flying exclusively to European sunshine destinations in Greece, Spain and slightly further afield. This bright Red and white livery is what can only be described as a Comic Sans / Willy Wonka…
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Virgin Atlantic is the epitome of cool. It’s the one airline we all associate with being sexy and slick, and whilst Crawley might not be THE destination that everyone cool wants to go to, Virgin have made it a design mecca that we all want to visit. Home of the Virgin Atlantic HQ, the newly…
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A new airline has taken to the skies in Europe, flying from Venice Marco Polo. Volotea is the brainchild of Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros, the creators of Vueling, and looks to be a contendor as one of Europe’s new metropolitan-style airlines, much like Vueling, serving main airports around the European network at convenient times with…
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Ryanair just announced to much fanfare they have reworked their only in-flight entertainment option to a smaller and ‘lighter’ product. Literally shaving centimetres off to making a compact A5 magazine. Whilst this is a smart move, reducing fuel burn and cutting costs, not to mention freeing up more space in the overhead bins for everyone’s…
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