Qatar Airways is seen as one of the ‘true’ Five Star airlines in the world and it has worked hard over the past decade to position itself as a true luxury carrier. At the heart of its recent efforts is the airline’s QSuite, a Flagship product that only a few carriers have managed to surpass…
Read MoreHappy Chinese New Year, Qatar Airways style
In traditional Qatar Airways style, the airline doesn’t hold back when it comes to a celebration. In honour of the Chinese New Year, the airline has introduced an oriental inspired menu on board flights to popular Asia destinations between 11 and 12 February 2021. In Qatar Airways’ Doha Al Mourjan Business Lounge, passengers will also…
Read MoreQatar Airways reveals new 787-9 Business Class Suite, and as expected, it’s the new Ascent seat
Tomorrow, Qatar Airways will see the first flight by its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner passenger aircraft, featuring its much anticipated new Adient Aerospace ‘Ascent’ Business Class Suite. The aircraft will operate on a number of key routes to Europe and Asia, starting with its Doha to Milan service followed by Doha to Athens, Barcelona, Dammam,…
Read MoreQatar Airways is latest carrier to bring an exclusive scent to the skies
Qatar Airways has always ensured its soft product is one of the best in the skies, so there’s no surprise it’s now partnered with French maison parfumerie Diptyque as part of the airline’s offering for First Class and Business Class passengers – both on board and in its premium lounges around the world. The airline…
Read MoreSeven brand-new Business Class seats to fly in 2024
This year turning out to be a pretty exciting year for the passenger experience world. While airlines are recording record profits, they are investing heavily into their new aircraft, looking to try and win over market share. Here’s TheDesignAir’s round up of best business class seats you should fly in 2024. 1. Cathay Pacific 777…
Read MoreQatar Airways launches elegant new special livery to celebrate the World Cup in 2022
For the foreseeable future, we’re going to be seeing fewer special liveries while airlines try to save cash and focus on a service return, so those rare few that do roll out will certainly garner some attention now. Qatar Airways is one of the first in this period to reveal a special livery, and naturally,…
Read MoreQatar Airways updates its Covid19 onboard product with more… measured measures
Qatar Airways has adapted its health and safety measures onboard by introducing new personal protective equipment for both customers and cabin crew, which increase the protection for passengers and bring the crew protection in line with (if not more than) other global airlines. The airline’s latest measures include offering face shields (rather than masks) and…
Read MoreRiyadh Air launches livery and brand video ahead of AIX
Riyadh Air, the new Saudi Arabian airline, headed up by veteran CEO Tony Douglas has just unveiled the first of two liveries that will adorn the airline’s fleet on Instagram earlier today. The airline has certainly decided to stand out with a bold, metallic purple look that will draw attention as it touches down to…
Read MoreSecond time lucky! Riyadh Air listens, and slightly amends second livery to be on point
A few months ago, I covered the new Riyadh Air livery, and how that in principal it’s one of the most elegant new liveries in the skies, but it the logotype on the fuselage was a little too dominant for an elegant, premium carrier. Well, it seems like they’ve listened, as not only their new…
Read More7 emerging passenger experience trends to watch out for
We’re currently in an era of rebounded passenger volumes, overwhelming profit margins, and seemingly sustained growth in virtually all aspects of the aviation industry. While much of that profit has been realised by heavily streamlined operations post-COVID, it’s also been due to pared back passenger experiences over the past 12 months, with many airlines only…
Read MoreQatar Airways opens new lounge in Singapore Changi Airport
Qatar Airways officially opened its new Premium Lounge at Singapore Changi Airport at Terminal 1, and wanted to show it some love, opening it on Valentines Day, this month.According to the airline, the new Singapore lounge “serves as the benchmark and blueprint for Qatar Airways’ future Premium Lounges worldwide,” however it features many of the…
Read MoreFrom boutique carriers to beds, bars and onboard spas, the ME3’s need to evolve the landscape for its premium travellers
2020 has seen the rule book thrown out of the window. Carriers that have adapted quickly will see the largest market share in 2021. While many airlines continue to struggle just to survive day-to-day, some have taken this as an opportunity to level the playing field. While clear regional battles are at play across Asia,…
Read MoreThe need for space. Will airlines invest in social spaces once again?
Even non-aviation enthusiasts may have noticed that the skies look a little different today. As we head into another year since the pandemic first decimated commercial aviation, the large behemoth A380s and Queens of the skies – the Boeing 747 – are a rare sight at airports nowadays. Replaced by more economic and smaller long-haul…
Read MoreHas the era of revolution ended? Long live evolution
Let’s face it, airline cabins are becoming more and more familiar, the day of being surprised when walking onboard is almost over. The era of innovation that saw all-aisle access, private suites, and fully flat beds in business class – which first blossomed some twenty years ago – has seemingly settled into a plateau that…
Read MoreTheDesignAir 2021 Award Winners Announced
After a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, TheDesignAir is pleased to announce the return of its annual Airline Design awards. Celebrating the very best in airline passenger experience, brand and design across the globe, the awards – now in its 9th year – have once again bestowed its leading design airlines, new products and…
Read MoreCongratulations to TheDesignAir Award Winners, 2023
Today we are pleased to announce TheDesignAir’s 11th annual award winners, as we celebrate the very best in aviation design, brand, and passenger experience around the world. Every year we see airlines across the globe continue to advance the passenger experience in the air and on the ground. There has been a new wave of…
Read MoreHawaiian Airlines reveals outstanding new 787 interiors featuring Leihōkū Adient seats
Hawaiian Airlines has finally introduced an elevated standard of leisure travel, inspired by early Polynesian voyages, with the unveiling of its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner interior and much anticipated new class of premium service – the Leihōkū Suites. Guests onboard Hawaiian’s 787 – entering service beginning early next year on select routes – will be immersed…
Read MoreCould Ascent by Adient Aerospace climb the ranks?
Like many things in the aviation industry, there are always one or two major suppliers in most cases dominating the industry, whether its Boeing or Airbus, Rolls Royce or GE and within business class seats let’s face it, Collins Aerospace or Safran, but there are just as capable competitors on the fringe. Recaro and Thompson…
Read MoreStepping through the door. What Virgin Australia’s new invitation-only ‘Beyond’ lounge has to offer
The new incarnation of Virgin Australia has continued its previous tradition of offering a very special lounge to its most prestigious guests. Today saw the curtain lift on the airline’s long-awaited invitation-only private ‘Beyond Lounges’ in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, reserved for corporate partners, some high-status Velocity Frequent Flyer members and key opinion leaders throughout…
Read MoreAmerican’s First Class isn’t entirely dead. The new premium interiors may give hint to the future of its cabin strategy.
Yesterday saw American Airlines announce a relatively needed and long-awaited refresh to its interiors programme. Bringing its long-haul and premium narrow-body cabins a whole new look was expected, and after United and Delta had rolled out its own signature Polaris and One products, American needed to step up to the mark. While the new cabins…
Read MoreEmirates trying to fix its two-product proposition for premium passengers
Fly better. That’s Emirates‘ marketing slogan. It’s the same marketing campaign that has featured the likes of Jennifer Anniston, onboard bars, showers, all-aisle access and swathes of space. The problem is, Emirates has – since the A380 entered its fleet – offered two products, a 777 and A380 business class product that couldn’t be more…
Read MoreQatar Airways draws attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month once again with new limited edition amenities
Qatar Airways passengers travelling on the carrier’s long-haul flights in both First Class and Business Class are being presented once again with BRIC’s limited edition pink themed amenity kits during the month of October, marking the airline’s annual support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The exclusive amenity kits are kind to the planet too. Made…
Read MoreSpecial Trip Report: Etihad’s New A350 proposition breathes fresh life into the carrier
Etihad has always been a challenger brand in the Middle East, even if it’s not the youngest of the carriers. Often shadowed by its much larger, blingier cousin Emirates, and self-styled luxury carrier Qatar Airways, Etihad has had a bigger hill to climb, either winning market share, or the hearts and wallets of this lucrative…
Read MoreBritish Airways swaps spas for sleep pods, but was it the right decision?
British Airways recently announced the retirement of its Elemis spas, one of the crowning unique features of their Heathrow lounges. Taking their place and replacing the older business centres – in a bid to offer something to passengers – is the new ’Forty Winks’ nap lounge, featuring power nap sleep pods. The new pods are…
Read MoreAirline cabins and hotels that are giving us wanderlust right now
While the team are doing their bit to help fight this pandemic and staying indoors, it’s also making us a little stir crazy as our wings have been clipped, at least for the coming weeks or months. Like many others out there, we’ve been finding ourselves going through our archives, going online and longing for…
Read MoreOpinion: Could Etihad become the Queen of Boutique Carriers post-pandemic?
We’ve been drowning in a sea of short-term hygiene messages across the last year as airlines have rapidly ‘masked up’ in order to win over what little passenger volume there has been. Today’s passengers have been assaulted by marketing imagery of planes being scrubbed within an inch of their life, crew in body suits and…
Read MoreFinnair’s new long-haul product is a masterpiece in authentic residential-inspired design
It’s rare to find innovation in Business Class products in the past few years. Since the likes of Singapore Airlines’ new monocoque seats and Qatar Airways QSuites, many carriers are opting to customise off the shelf products, which naturally bring tried-and-tested comfort, but will never advance the passenger experience the same way that a truly…
Read MoreCould tactile, textured finishes be an emerging trend post-COVID?
It’s long been established in scientific fields that memories, emotions, and senses are all tied together. The same region of the brain that processes the five senses is also partly responsible for storing emotional memories. In the airline field, that means passengers are more likely to remember and build brand memories that tie in all five senses…
Read MoreDon’t put your feet up. Why airlines still have to invest in design, especially now
Unless you’ve had your head under a rock, you might have noticed that airlines are struggling to survive right now. Their entire model is based on free movement between destinations, a right that has since been rescinded by the global governments who are trying to get a grip on the pandemic. As such, airlines are…
Read MoreQatar Airways Continues Bric’s Relationship, With Launch Of Updated Amenity Kits
Qatar Airways has launched its latest range of First Class and Business Class amenity kits. Created by BRIC’s, the new amenity kits will be distributed to passengers in on long-haul and ultra-long-haul flights. The new collection of BRIC’s amenity kits includes designs and contents created for both male and female passengers and feature the same…
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