Avianca this week announced the latest opening of their new lounge concept in Miami International Airport. Located in Terminal J near boarding gate 12B, the lounge offers its services to LifeMiles Élite Gold and Diamond members as well as Star Alliance Gold, Priority Pass cardholders or Business Class travelers and their guest. This is the 16th lounge…
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Flight: LA705 Aircraft Type: B787-8 Class: ‘Premium’ Business Class Route: MAD-SCL Flight time: 13:21 Seat: 4D Date: April 2015 http://www.lan.com Best for: Couples due to the seat config or smarter travellers wanting a better experience compared to the Iberia codeshare flying the same route. The crowd: A full cabin, mainly Chilean, and either wealthy travellers or business travellers. Business or pleasure: This route, considering it connects on…
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We were delighted this month to be invited to experience Cathay’s latest airside lounge, situated in Tokyo Haneda, which we reported on late last year. Situated airside in Tokyo Haneda’s International Terminal, the brand new space, on the very highest passenger floor commands unparalleled views of not just Haneda Airport, but Tokyo’s dramatic and iconic skyline. On…
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This month we delve into that quiet and revered airport sanctuary! TheDesignAir once again, with strategic print partner Airways magazine bring you the very best Top 10 Airport Lounges in the world 2015. As well as appearing online, they will appear in print in every monthly glossy issue of Airways magazine, available around the world. We are impressed with the…
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They’re back! TheDesignAir has partnered with our strategic print partner Airways magazine to bring you an updated and regular Top 10 lists for 2015. This year starting with our Top 10 International First Classes 2015. As well as appearing online, they will appear in print in every monthly issue of Airways magazine, available around the world.…
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It’s been a while, but we are continuing our comparison reports on some of the most popular and competitive routes in the world. In the midst of our recent travel planning we noticed the great variety of carriers travelling between Hong Kong and Bangkok. There are 9 main competitors that run the city pair, formed of Thai Airways, Emirates, Sri…
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Our TheDesignAir Top 10 lists have undergone a revamp in 2014, and to aid transparency, our top 10 airlines will now have their rating out of 100 shown, as voted for and calculated by our judging panel. What is interesting for our Top 10 International business classes 2014 is the wide ranging percentage scores within the top…
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Royal Brunei has just announced the latest in their branding developments at the new and improved airline. Today was the announcement of their new cabin crew uniforms, replacing the older (and bolder) red and yellow uniforms. The new uniforms follow the traditional Brunei fashion, and as stated by the airline, “the new collection reflects tradition,…
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Holy smokes, another safety video from Air New Zealand? Hell, why not? The previous, dubbed “Safety Old School Style” features America’s sweetheart comedienne Betty White and a cast of golden oldies. Past Air New Zealand safety video hits have included the Hobbit-themed ‘An Unexpected Briefing’, ‘Fit to Fly’ starring fitness guru Richard Simmons and more recently…
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JAL has just announced an industry first, bringing even more comfort to the skies in their first class cabin. Originally the airline used tempur mattresses and pillows in their first class cabin, but after response from their passengers flying in their business class cabin, the airline has rolled out the already established ‘airweave’ mattress and…
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Our friends at Hawaiian have just released a video time-lapse of the painting of their very first ATR. Whilst we announced this a while ago, secretly we’ve been waiting for the chance to see this livery for real. The new aircraft are absolutely stunning and are yet another winning livery for the pacific –…
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At thedesignair.net we are great fans of Cathay Pacific’s product. The seamless experience is effortless and well considered. From their onboard product to their lounges, attention to detail seems paramount, and it’s this design ethos that has put them at the top of the Lounges 2013. We take a closer look at their lounges, and…
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So the votes are in. American Airlines employees have voted, and the figures have been totted up. The new American tail stays. According to airchive, there were 60,418 voters, which accounts for 60% of their staff. Interestingly, 31,355 people voted in favour of the tail. We can save you the math. That’s 52%. Not exactly…
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It’s no secret that we weren’t fans of American’s new livery when it came out, and although we loved the new 777 premium cabins, we thought the livery was missing the mark, being overtly American, one thing that Internationally has always been a nationalistic stereotype picked up on by the rest of the global community.…
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Sister Airline to the award winning Cathay Pacific; Dragonair, the regional / medium-haul carrier has just announced its cabin offerings to lift the airline’s level of luxury. The most recent announcement is the launch of their First Class offering. If the seat looks familiar, that is because it is identical to Cathay Pacific’s new long-haul…
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A question I am constantly asked by Captains since I became a pilot was “Why the move from a creative industry to one that is so technical?” I always smile when I’m asked that question. I tell my flight deck companion to open their eyes and look outside. “You think there is no creativity, look…
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Royal Brunei, when we reported on their new livery and look a while ago, didn’t inspire us too much, their artists impressions made the aircraft look flat and badly proportioned. Now we like to think they saw our comments and made a few tweaks, but realistically, we know that the aircraft reality and artists impressions can…
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Our good friends at Fiji Airways, winner of the best livery 2013 in our Top 10 Liveries have now extended their brand to the domestic and regional carrier Pacific Sun. Pacific Sun, since the new re-branding of Fiji’s International airline, has been at odds with the earthy colours and sophisticated cabins, although obviously the friendly and…
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This year there have been many new lounges appearing around the world. Each offering a unique level of luxury and identity that has meant a broad and interesting collection of spaces in a variety of spaces. Excellent spaces that didn’t make the list, but should still be commended, include Virgin America’s ‘The Loft‘ in LAX,…
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Air Canada, who have created one of the densest seating 777‘s going, which apart from their new business class cabin (which is great), packed passengers in their economy cabin, has now released impressions of their 787. Whilst the economy cabin offers 3 x 3 x 3 seating (which although tight is similar to almost all…
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Emirates, one of the most luxurious airlines in the world has launched the world’s longest A380 route. Shortly after the end of the longest flight in the world (The Singapore Airlines A340-500 Singapore to Newark flight) Emirates has brought a little joy launching not the longest in the world (That is still owned by Qantas’…
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British Airways, whose travel spas are run by well known brand Elemis, are undergoing a refurb and will have a new look, just in time for Christmas. The refurbished Terminal 5 spa will now offer state-of-the-art massage chairs, which will offer additional massage therapy, whilst the real therapists can focus on the passengers hands, feet…
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We love a bit of online viral marketing, and three airlines this week have really taken the internet by storm. If you have been living under a stone for the last few days, here’s a catch up for you to take your dinner party conversation to a whole new level. The three airlines in question…
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Continuing our comparison reports on some of the most popular and competitive routes in the world, we have taken a look at our Asian super-highway between Singapore and Tokyo-Narita. There are 5 main competitors (plus low-cost Scoot) that run the city pair, including ANA, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Delta and United. To make it easy we have…
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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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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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Cathay Pacific have really pushed their investment into the passenger experience by launching last week their new ‘Bridge’ lounge. The 6th lounge to grace Hong Kong International airport sits alongside The Cabin (launched in 2010), The Arrival (launched 2008), The Pier (2001) and the recently updated ‘Wing’ (first launched in 1998) and of course their…
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Thanks to our antipodean friends at Australian Business Traveller, we have a few images to share from their news on the unveiling of Qantas’ latest Boeing-737 Aboriginal Painted Jet. The ‘Mendoowoorrji’ artwork is from the late Paddy Bedford, a famous West Australian Aboriginal artist, and specifically from his 2005 painting ‘Medicine Pocket’ and is different…
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We were very excited to receive a press release this morning from Air New Zealand, it showed in full glory the new 787-9 interiors, and their first routes. Initially flying on the Auckland – Perth route, as more aircraft join the fleet it will then start flying Auckland – Tokyo, Auckland – Shanghai, and also…
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One of our favourite carriers, Hawaiian Airlines has recently announced that in June 2014, their A330 fleet will offer a new level of comfort in their economy cabin. Titled ‘Extra Comfort Economy’, Hawaiian, In their first comprehensive redesign of its long-haul seating configuration, will be offering a new class of seats that offer more legroom and other amenities…
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