So Royal Brunei Airlines might be an airline you’ve heard of if you’ve been trying to get a cheap ticket on the ‘Kangaroo route’ (Australia to Europe) as they often offer cheaper fares than some counterparts. However, not many people know about it’s image. It seems Royal Brunei have leapt into the 21st Century with…
Read MoreNo.1 Traveller Opens Stylish New Lounge In Birmingham Airport
No.1 Traveller, which has been running for over 6 years now launches it’s brand new lounge tomorrow as we mentioned back in July. Opening 31st October, this is no scary affair. A wonderfully appointed 4,500 sq.ft lounge, as designed by Inside Out Architecture is exactly what the expanding-and-dramatically-improving Birmingham Airport needs. A double story lounge,…
Read MoreSmall Re-Energised ‘bmi regional’ Could Become A Big Player
Sunday, 28th October 2012 marked a chapter in bmi‘s ever changing name and product, as it took flight as a new entity ‘bmi regional‘. Based on the existing bmi regional network, the airline; once an subsidiary of the main carrier bmi; was bought up by a consortium whilst the bmi brand was being broken down…
Read MoreCathay 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…
Read MoreFinnair Partners With Iconic Finnish Designers Marimekko
Finnair‘s inflight product has always been efficient, clean and simple, perhaps seen by most as more ‘bland’ than ‘brand’. However, they have recently launched a brand new partnership with Finnish designer Marimekko to provide them with new table-wear and fabrics for their airline. Marimekko’s simple and elegant retro prints are all about great splashes of colour and…
Read MoreSingapore Airlines To Stop Longest Non-Stop Flight
Next year will see the demise of the almost 19 hour flight that connects Singapore to Newark, New York as flown by Singapore Airlines A340-500 series aircraft. It’s not that the route isn’t doing well, it’s because Singapore are trading in their ageing models to be used against the purchase of 5 new A380’s and…
Read MoreAeroflot Launch New 777 Interiors
Whilst there hasn’t been any real announcement of their product launch for the 777, here is a video on their YouTube channel of the interior of their new aircraft, joining their fleet in 2013. Whilst there is no sound, it’s easy to work your way through their 3 classes, whilst none of these products are…
Read MoreDoes British Airways’ New Advert Hit A Sour Note?
Whilst it is perhaps best for you to make up your own mind on British Airways new commercial, hitting UK screens today, this 30 second advert feels a little cheap as far as brand positioning goes. The airline over the Olympics has produced some great adverts, and has been very clever in its marketing strategy in 2012.…
Read MoreNorway’s New ‘Virtual’ Premium Airline ‘FlyNonstop’ Launches
Norway’s Kristiansand might only have a population of 82,000 at last count, but a local Ice-cream businessman believes that the town needs it’s own airline. Not only that, but he’s willing to start the airline up himself. Now just to clarify, ‘Virtual’ airlines aren’t ones that you’ll find on flight-sim, but instead business and brand…
Read MoreCould This Be The Start Of AA’s New Livery?
There has been much in the way of rumor-mongering going on throughout the internet of American’s first 777-300ER’s paint scheme, as caught on camera by Russell Hill recently at Boeing’s Paine Field plant. What is visible on American’s registered (but not yet complete) aircraft, is an apparent solution to the new composite bodies that modern airliners…
Read MoreREPORT: Could This Be The Birth Of A New Clubhouse?
Air New Zealand has recently announced it will leave Terminal 2 at LAX to move to the TBIT terminal to sit with its Star Alliance partners. This is great news for Air New Zealand, allowing them the opportunity to design a brand new, modern lounge in the terminal, that will be used by its Star…
Read MoreFiji Airways Impress With New Livery & Branding
Now I have a feeling this is going to be a “Marmite/Vegimite” of liveries. You are either going to love it, or hate it. But Fiji Airways rebranding gets a big thumbs up from TheDesignAir. When first mentioned on TheDesignAir we highlighted the fact that Fiji was going back to it’s roots with it’s new name.…
Read MoreAustrian Airlines Boast A Familiar Looking “New” Business Class Seat
Now, if you have travelled on Brussels Airlines in business class recently, or one of Delta’s, or even Swiss for that matter, this wouldn’t come as news to you. As this seat is very similar to those offered by these other carriers. This new seating arrangement offered by Austrian Airlines, whilst saving space, gives everyone…
Read MoreTheDesignAir Top 10 Cool Airline Brands 2012
As promised, here at DesignAir we evaluated airlines around the world to compile our definitive Top 10 list of Cool Airline Brands. Let us know if you agree, whether you think we’ve missed one, or what your top 10 would be at the bottom of the page! 10. Southwest Southwest Airlines could be seen as a…
Read MoreWe’re In Love With ‘Romantic’ Virgin Australia
Streuth! It’s hard not to report about the Virgin group of airlines right now, as they just keep on doing things right. We, here at TheDesignAir love this brand new commercial from Virgin Australia. Turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy! Slick, clean, and super retro, they are really trying to hark back to the…
Read MoreSouthwest Airlines Launch New Uniform
Southwest Airlines has always been seen as a fun-loving airline, with many people loving their light-hearted and easy going nature. Individual safety messages and character is encouraged to create a warm environment to put their passengers at ease. However, their latest incarnation of the female outfit, couldn’t be anything further from fun if it tried.…
Read MoreTRIP REPORT: United Economy Class
United Economy Report Flight: UA1717 Aircraft Type: B767-400 Class: Economy (Coach) Route: HNL – SFO Date: 26th September 2012 Best for: ‘Blandalised’ travelers, looking for a cheap seat, and nothing else. Most likely to sit next to: (on this route) An aging surfer dreaming of times gone by, or an armada of Japanese tourists. Business…
Read MoreVirgin Atlantic Is Officially Voted Coolest Travel Brand UK
Virgin Atlantic managed to top the polls in the CoolBrands List. The CoolBrands List has been running for 11 years and has featured the sexy red airline rather a lot. Sir Richard Branson’s airline was one of only two airlines to place, along with British Airways, However Virgin Atlantic placed 8th coolest brand in the…
Read MoreThomson New 787 Advert Is a Dream
There is something to be said about UK advertising. It is some of the best in the world. Thomson’s latest advert currently screened on TV is somewhat reminiscent of the BA campaigns ‘To Fly to Serve’ seen on British TV before the Olympics. This move to nostalgia is quite common now, as coming out of a recession its…
Read MoreA First Look At Island Air In Hawaii
Lucky enough to be in O’ahu right now during the arrival of Island Air‘s new turboprop sent over from the mainland. This image, as seen on their facebook profile shows the aircraft resting after a just over 8 hour flight from the mainland from its previous owner American Eagle. This commences the start of the…
Read MoreQatar Airways Introduce Celebrity Chef Menus As They Expand Their Reach
Dining: Qatar Airways has yet again, gone above and beyond to try and create a truly unique product to compete with it’s slightly larger Middle Eastern counterparts. Four International chefs have been drafted in to enhance and develop their First Class and Business Class menu offerings flying from Doha in Qatar. The award-winning Chef Ramzi Choueiri,…
Read MoreTRIP REPORT: Virgin Atlantic Upper Class
Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Report Flight: VS043 Aircraft Type: B747-400 Class: Upper Class (Premium Business Class) Route: LGW – LAS Date: 18th September 2012 Best for: Style-conscious gadget-lovers and movie stars. Most likely to sit next to: Someone that either has been in a movie, owns a media company or is equally as cool as…
Read MorePassenger Choice Award Winners 2012
No real surprises that Virgin America sweeped the board, hosted in their home state, at the Passenger Choice Awards 2012 yesterday in Long Beach California (September 17th), pulling in a whopping 4 awards, encompassing Overall Passenger Experience (Up to 50 IFE equipped in fleet), Best in Region (Americas), Best User Interface and Best Cabin Ambiance.…
Read MoreREPORT: The Dying Art Of Airline Customer Interaction
It seems the long-gone era of glamorous travel is fast diminishing, due to technological advances in the industry. Passengers are losing their connection to the airlines that they fly with, airlines are losing the communication points they used to have. ‘Tea? Coffee?” might be the only two words that a passenger could hear from their…
Read MorePassbook, The New Airline ‘Must Have’ App?
There has been a bit of excitement running through the net recently of Apple’s impending iPhone launch, and with it, iOS 6, the new operating system, hosting a plethora of nifty new now-must-have-apps. The most important, and perhaps exciting to hit the airline industry is Passbook. Passbook seems to be a relatively nifty idea, sorting…
Read MoreCEO Steve Ridgeway resigns from Virgin Atlantic after 23 years
Today, 09 September 2012, marks the news of one of the industry’s most influential CEOs stepping down from his position as CEO of Virgin Atlantic. Steve Ridgeway started his career with Virgin Atlantic in 1989 when he was appointed Managing Director of the industry’s first automated frequent flyer programme, Virgin Freeway. In 1994, he was…
Read MoreSingapore Airlines to launch fleet-wide WiFi offering
Singapore Airlines has always been seen as a global market leader so it doesn’t surprise to hear they have launched a plan to roll out their in-flight offering of WiFi from their current 14 aircraft out to their entire fleet. This will also mean that mobile phone data services can be enabled, allowing the humble…
Read MoreVirgin Atlantic Launches Manchester-London Flights
So, for those of you who have been following my posts will probably be expecting this report. It’s safe to say I’ve been confident that a ‘Virgin America’ product would end up over in Europe, recently covering such a concept in this Report. Virgin Atlantic have launched a 3 times daily return connection between Heathrow…
Read MoreGulf Life New Look Magazine
Leafing through the library of Ink Global’s (world’s largest in-flight publisher) magazines, Gulf Life sprang out as one good looking title. With a new lease of life it seems and printed on quality stock, the magazine aims to impress, and certainly tries to punch above its weight for Gulf Air, the smaller of the Gulf…
Read MoreREPORT: Yet Again, Long Haul Low Cost Premium Service Fails
Raising the question ‘Will we ever learn?’ Hong Kong Airlines seems to have dropped it’s premium flights between Hong Kong and London Gatwick, only months after starting them. Add this to the recent news that the all-business class Singapore Airlines flights between Singapore and JFK now offer economy seating in them to bolster yields as…
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