Economy Class & Beyond

The most interesting Premium Economy Seat? Maybe!

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At Airline Interiors Expo, I saw a lot of different seats. And I mean I saw a lot. From business class seats to Economy seats made of carbon - I saw a lot of seats (and there's more to share over the next few days). However, there was a real stand-out seat in Premium Economy that grabbed my attention by Stelia Aerospace... and amazingly, it isn't a Business class or a First … [Read more...]

The PED Pouch: GhettoIFE taken to its limit?

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As you all know, I'm an advocate of iPhones in sick bags when there's poor quality In-Flight Entertainment around. I call this concept "GhettoIFE". You can find out about it here. However, it's not great for larger devices - such as tablets. However, it seems designers (and people with a lot more money) have stepped in. Enter Avio Interiors who have released something … [Read more...]

The 11 Across Airbus A380 seating – Is it that bad?

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Time for the late dispatch from Aircraft Interior Expo where I take a closer look at the Airbus A380 new seating. For those of you who missed the news from Tuesday, Airbus are proposing 11 across seats aboard their A380s. But it's difficult to imagine. So I went to investigate. The 11 Across seats in the A380 width space. Those aisles - notice the width or lack … [Read more...]

Does the Boeing Space bin actually work?

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Announced last year, Boeing released a new generation of storage bin - the Space Bin.  And as I maintain from last year, it isn't a rocket, but a new "deep" luggage bin that can swallow a lot of rollabards. And the PR image last year looked like it might work. 737 Space Bins at 737 Configuration Studio - Image, The Boeing Company Except I couldn't imagine it in my … [Read more...]

Philippe Starck to develop… amenity kits? Why yes!

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Airlines love the branded amenity kits - be it Rimowa cases, Tumi cases, Elemis spa creams and balms, Bulgari fragrences and such, with the brands tying up with airlines to push their products further. Well, it seems a great product designer has teamed up with a distributor of kits. Philippe Starck has been designing some interesting items for many years, from rooms, … [Read more...]

Airbus abandons comfort, and goes to squeezing passengers in…

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Editors note: Thanks to @thatjohn and @Airlineflyer for tweeting pictures of the Airbus presentation that I couldn’t make due to me going back to Birmingham to pick up my passport. This post would not had been possible without them. It seems Airbus is giving up with it its idea of wider seats in Economy Class as it proposes a three-class economy solution at Aircraft … [Read more...]

What I’m looking forward to at AIX 2015

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Well, tomorrow takes me back to Germany - and somewhere were I haven't been in years - and that's Hamburg (If I'm honest, the last time I was there was when I was... 9 or 10 years old. Considering I'm nearing 40 this year, it's been a long time). Sadly - whilst I'll have little time for sightseeing as I'm going to be busy at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2015. Aircraft … [Read more...]

Ultra-long haul Air Passenger Duty drops from today (1st April)

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In good news, Air Passenger Duty for departures from United Kingdom changes today. In the past there has been four bands of Air Passenger Duty, split into two rates: Band A: 0 - 2000 miles Band B: 2001 - 4000 miles Band C: 4001 - 6000 miles Band D: over 6000 miles The two levels are: Reduced Rate - for the lowest class of travel on a plane (eg … [Read more...]

Iberia WiFi connectivity in-plane – even worth considering?

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In flight connectivity is all the rage these days, with Gogo offering various all day packages in the USA for $16 upwards, Emirates offering 500mb for a $1, and so on. Yesterday, I was aboard an Iberia flight - and there was WiFi offered aboard the plane. Which is all well and good. The A330 had the "new" Iberia cabin installed - but we're not interested in that in … [Read more...]