Qatar Airways Adds White Company Pyjamas In Wave Of Upgraded Amenities In Premium Cabins

The latest addition to a wave of updates to Qatar Airways, the carrier has launched newly-designed sleeper suits, bespoke for First Class passengers, individually styled for men and women. Designed by UK based The White Company, the men’s sleeper suit is designed in a charcoal grey marl, and the women’s in a contemporary, mid-grey, both are made…

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Qatar Airways Launches New Business Class Amenity Kits

This month saw the launch of the latest range of First and Business Class amenity kits for Qatar Airways by BRICS, Nappa Dori and Castello Monte Vibiano Vecchio. The new wave of long, medium and short haul kits will feature exclusive designs for the carrier. The new long-haul First Class amenity kit will come in four colours: …

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United Starts To Roll Out Polaris, With Focus On Chicago’s ORD New Polaris Lounge

This might not be a ‘partridge in a pear tree’, but December 1st saw United start to give it’s premium passengers a new gift, in the form of Polaris – the newly redefined Business Class experience. At 12.01am this morning, the airline started to roll out the new Polaris service across all of its markets. The reimagined, sleep-enhancing…

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A reimagined experience. An Exclusive Inside Look At Cathay Dragon

Part three of TheDesignAir’s exclusive series on the making of Cathay Dragon. Read parts one and two. This week brought a brand new airline officially take to the skies, with Dragonair now becoming Cathay Dragon. The new airline now aligns itself with its big brother Cathay Pacific across many passenger experience touch-points while still maintaining…

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The Growing Divide In Premium And Low Cost Brands, And Those Stuck In The Middle.

  The rise of the low cost brand a decade ago challenged the legacy carriers to reconsider their business model. Passengers were able to pick between the privileges of a packet of nuts, or a bare bones charge-through-the-teeth model where even you seat choice was a privilege. However, through the natural evolution of business, the…

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Japan Airlines Reveal New 777-200ER Herringbone Business Class Seats

JAL today announced a new cabin enhancement for their 777-200ER fleet which would ‘raise the bar one class above in all cabin services” according to a press release from the carrier today. The brand new business class dubbed “JAL Sky Suite 777 (SS2)” will launch on the Tokyo Haneda – Bangkok route from July 2016.…

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Delta Keeps On Picking Up Good Habits From Virgin Atlantic

As of today, passengers flying on Delta’s International business class ‘Delta One’ will be laying back in their own sleep suits on flights between Seattle and Shanghai, Detroit and Shanghai, Seattle and Beijing, Detroit and Beijing, and Seattle and Hong Kong. Launching a similar product to that found on sister airline Virgin Atlantic, the new sleep suits, available in small/medium…

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American Airlines Invests In Refreshed Lounges With Table Service Dining

Most people may not know, but the first Airline lounge was actually created by American Airlines back in 1939. Since then, lounges have come full circle to be some of the most opulent and premium branded spaces around the world. It’s no surprise then that the founder of the airside lounge has decided to invest…

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Trip Report: British Airways 787-9 First Class January 2016

Flight: BA073 Aircraft Type: B787-9 Class: ‘First’ First Class Route: LHR-AUH-MCT Date: January 2016 http://www.ba.com We were curious last year to see how British Airways new First product on their 787-9 were going to reinvent the first class experience, but when we had the chance to experience the product first-hand (forgive the pun) we jumped at the chance to see why…

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Vietnam Airlines Launch Refreshed Brand Image

Vietnam Airlines has officially launched its new corporate identity as part of its ‘four-star service upgrade.’ The brand launch coincides with their rollout of brand new B787-9 Dreamliner and A350-900 XWB aircraft and marks a major leap forward in the flag carrier’s plans to establish itself as one of Asia’s premier airlines by 2020. Whilst the…

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Alitalia Deliver Not Only A New Brand But A New Brand Promise

Sorry? What was that? Yes we wouldn’t blame you for looking twice at the image above. Alitalia really has launched a new livery, and whilst the awaiting press may have been a little disappointed to not see something perhaps as young, bold and dynamic as Etihad’s recent (award-winning) livery, we are delighted with the result.…

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Trip Report: Singapore Airlines New 777-300ER Business Class May 2015

Flight: SQ319 Aircraft Type: B777-300ER Class: ‘New’ Business Class Route: LHR-SIN Flight time: 12:34 Seat: 15F Date: May 2015 http://www.singaporeair.com Best for: Solos and Couples doesn’t matter, this carrier is great for business, but also those wanting to experience luxury travel. The crowd: Mainly English or Antipodean travellers, with most connecting on to luxury beach or city breaks. An older more sophisticated set. Business or…

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Suitcases Pack A Punch, No Matter How Small They May Be

You may not have heard of Formia, as they hide behind the behemoth brands they work with, however that may be about to change. This powerful (and award-winning) company manages to partner brands together to offer their passengers the very best in amenities. 2015 has brought a wealth of new luxury partnerships, and a new…

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JPA and Jamco Release The Latest Herringbone Seat

It’s always good to see a new herringbone seat enter the market, and yet most passengers may not even know the array of seats on offer. The wealth of herringbone seat designs have a myriad of differences. Designed by London based JPA Design and Jamco, these brand new seat designs (first seen at AIX in Hamburg this…

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TheDesignAir Exclusive Interview With Cathay’s Toby Smith

We’re sat in the busy ‘Bridge’ lounge in Hong Kong airport, surrounded by the hustle & bustle of the café area and the sound of Illy espressos being perfectly ground and poured by barista staff. The Bridge is one of six lounges in Hong Kong International Airport, and is one of the latest in the…

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Exclusive: We Talk To The Designers Behind SIA’s New Premium Economy

London based JPA Design has had a long working history with Singapore Airlines, starting back in 1998 when they first launched the 747 first class suite. Since then the creative studio has tackled a variety of cabin designs for one of the world’s leading airlines, including the 777 and first ever production business class seat for SIA’s A380.…

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Christmas Gifts? Don’t Worry! Hawaiian Open Awesome Online Shop

You may know we are great fans of Hawaiian Airlines and their fantastic brand. Infact we flew with them just a few weeks ago and will be bringing you our very own trip reports of our experience with the airline. But in the meantime, we are happy to see their new online memerobilia store open!…

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Lufthansa’s New Premium Economy

Lufthansa have been working on a new premium economy product for the past few years and have just announced they are to be introduced into their long haul fleet. Seen globally as a huge success since the invention from Virgin Atlantic, in 1992, many airlines now offer a class between economy and business class, as…

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Turkish Airlines To Add Four A380s To Its Fleet

According to Flightglobal, Turkish Airlines is just finalising a deal to add 4 A380’s to its fleet as early as this summer. The International airline will be wet-leasing the aircraft from as of yet, an unnamed airline, according to the airline, Turkish plan on using the super-jumbos on services to China where slot availability is…

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Air France Reveal New Business Class Cabin

In a roll out across the 777 fleet, and part of the ‘Best & Beyond’ service and product renovation project, Air France have finally caught up with their international competitors by offering fully flat seating in their business class cabins. The seating may look familiar, being adopted the world round for it’s successful mix of…

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‘The Making Of’ The Virgin Atlantic A330 Bar

When we announced the launch of the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class product on the A330 we mentioned how much we loved the new bar designed by VW+BS, and recently they created a cool time-lapse video showing the design process over the period of 3 years. It’s a fascinating video, showing a natural evolution of the…

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Cathay Launch Brand New Business Class Amenity Kits

As part of Cathay Pacific‘s continued redevelopment and enhancement of their in-flight offering, the airline announced today the launch of their new business class amenity kit for flights to and from Hong Kong. In a move familiar around the world, the airline has partnered with a beauty house, this time featuring products from Jurlique, a…

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Report: The LAX LHR Business Class comparison

Starting our series of competitive routes around the world, we are breaking down the details of what each airline has to offer to help you find the perfect airline for you for your trip. To start with, we are looking at Los Angeles to London Heathrow. In this post we are looking at the business…

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Cathay Pacific Revamp Their Award Winning First Class

Cathay Pacific have recently been injecting time and effort into ensuring their cabin products stay at the forefront of people’s minds. The award winning first class suite, first seen onboard in 2007 wasn’t in need of a redesign, instead, a refresh was all that was needed to keep the cabin a premium product in almost…

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Dubai Just Got A Little More Luxurious

FlyDubai, the up and coming short-mid haul carrier from Dubai, has recently given their competitors a run for their money. They’ve just announced that by the end of the year, they will be rolling out business class seating across their fleet. 3 rows of 2×2 seating will now form the front of their planes.  The…

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Cathay Gives Three Good Reasons To Fly To London

Cathay Pacific have recently managed to swell their schedule to a whopping 5 flights a day to London, UK. That additional daily return flight means that there will now be 35 flights a week between London and Hong Kong. Flown predominantly on their 777 fleet, the airline is fighting the middle eastern carrier supremacy at one of the world’s…

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KLM Introduce Their New World Business Class By Hella Jongerius

KLM unveiled yesterday their brand new business class seat and cabin, which has been much anticipated for the last year. When it was announced that Hella Jongerius would be designing the cabin, there was much speculation that KLM would bring an entirely new concept to the cabin. However, from the images revealed, it seems she…

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Air Tahiti Nui Revitalise Inflight Product

Short on the heels of other Pacific long haul rival Fiji Airways, a designair favourite, Air Tahiti Nui has revealed that it is refitting it’s A340 long haul fleet starting in April this year with a brand new economy and Poerava business class product. Here at thedesignair, we are super excited, as the long trip from…

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Cathay Pacific Teams Up With G.O.D. For New Amenity Kits

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com Cathay Pacific has unveiled its new amenity kits for Premium Economy Class passengers which feature exclusive designs by home-grown Hong Kong brand G.O.D. (which stands for Goods of Desire). Cathay says its design collaboration with G.O.D. took inspiration from the “vibrant culture of Hong Kong, where East meets West and age-old traditions blend with…

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