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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Eva Air have recently launched their newest business class seat, looking very much like the new Weber‘s ‘Cirrus’ reverse herringbone seat, as launched on Qatar and Lufthansa amongst others. Titled ‘Royal Laurel Class‘ this seat will be offered on their Taipei-New York service and will be on board in June 2nd 2012 in a cabin with…
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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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There’s nothing like getting close to your passengers and melting away any concerns they have, but Sir Richard Branson has taken this to a whole new level. In an interesting PR stunt, Virgin Atlantic have launched a new onboard Ice cube. Yes. Ice cube. In a bid to… well I’m not quite sure to be…
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Whilst this pretty nifty (if not shouty!) video might appear somewhat self-serving considering its creator is Ink, the world’s largest inflight magazine producer, they do highlight an interesting topic in aviation right now. Is the in-flight magazine dying? Apparently not if this months Aeroflot magazine is to be taken seriously weighing in at a whopping…
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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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Virgin Australia have been busy recently and have just released images of their new domestic A330 fleet operating both the Syndey-Perth and Melbourne-Perth routes. This comes just over a week after releasing news of them updating the interiors of their 777 cabins for their trans-pacific flights. As designed by Brand Director, Hans Hulsbosch, Virgin Australia has…
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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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Flybe, UK’s largest domestic carrier and short haul European carrier has recently updated its website, brought on a new non-executive director and banished evil debit card charges from its bookings. What with a new ‘Making Flying Better’ slogan, perhaps they mean what they say! Flybe’s new website is slick, it is finished too, something that…
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London Southend, (in the UK) which had a re-launch earlier this month as a London airport that is to be taken seriously, just got given the go-ahead to extend its terminal by a further 90 meters. Whilst this doesn’t sound much, for a smaller airport like this, it will give the airport a chance to…
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Thomson have revealed their new cabin and livery for the new 787 Dreamliner which will come into service early 2013 with the airline. This new livery hopefully will get rolled out across the rest of the fleet and I have to say, it’s really quite beautiful. The flowing lines naturally rolling over the wingbox give…
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On the following day of the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s updated premium product ‘Dream Suite‘ comes news from troubled Lufthansa of a different nature. In an effort to try and become more efficient, curb spending and reign in the purse strings after a less than successful stint of turning bmi around, they are going to…
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Bringing itself from a respectable 3rd place last year to “Top of the World”, Incheon International Airport has today been named as the World’s Best Airport at the SKYTRAX World Airport Awards™ 2012. The Skytrax Awards are voted by the public, so this is based on public opinion therefore not influenced by PR campaigns. Instead the…
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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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If you happen to have a wallet the size of an American State, you may be interested to see their latest BBJ that rolled out the factory recently. The Boeing BBJ uses a 737-700 frame with -800 wings to create an extra long range product that is more hotel than plane. With the interior put…
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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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Thomson, the first UK 787 operator, has announced its first 787 routes to Cancun in Mexico and Sanford in Florida. It is allowing the whole country to enjoy the flights, flying from not one, but four UK airports, Gatwick, East Midlands, Manchester and Glasgow. Thomson have got some great things planned for the plane including…
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No, this isn’t an advert for a new Japanese game show. This was the launch of Japan’s first LCC’s uniform. Welcome to Peach! Still unsure of why it’s called Peach, but according to the airline, the name “Peach” was chosen for its symbolism as a well-known and much loved fruit that symbolizes longevity, energy and happiness…
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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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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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Since Virgin Atlantic launched their award winning flagship lounge in LHR in 2006, all eyes are turning to each airline’s lounge offering as a deciding factor in choosing business class travel. Air France has recently revealed details of its biggest ever business class lounge in the S4 boarding satellite at CDG, a joint project conducted by…
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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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