News

The Up Front writes about ANA's new sofa seat from Safran Seats, The Room FX. The seats will be on the 787-9, a complicatedly narrow widebody cabin. The Room is widely acknowledged as the best business class seat currently flying.

We certainly think so. With the return of Etihad’s A380, Lufthansa and Swiss’s investment into First Class, and even Starlux bringing its own award-winning A350 First Class product to the skies, the future of this exclusive, highly valuable cabin class is anything but written off.

The combination of a chaise lounge and reclining leather armchair gives our first class suite a relaxing home-like vibe. Executive Traveller writes about the pressure on airlines to continue refining the first experience.

Privacy, space, and exclusivity are synonymous with premium air travel and hiding away from fellow passengers hasn’t always been the main focus of cabin design. Simple Flying caught up with Acumen Design Associates CEO, Ian Dryburgh and brand experience director, Mike Crump, about the evolution of this factor.

Colour, materials and finish (CMF) have always been hugely important for aircraft interior designers and suppliers when reflecting an airline brand and soothing the passenger experience. PAX Tech talks to Acumen’s Lizzie Spreadbury in their article on page 7.

One of the largest beds in the sky is set to debut in just a few months time when JetBlue starts flying its A321neos from Boston and New York to London. JetBlue's new Mint Studio offering consists of two mini-rooms at the front of its newest planes, each with a comfortable seat that turns into its own fully flat bed…

JetBlue announced a major refresh to its Mint service in late-November and in February launched its new A321neo Business Class cabin alongside its official designer partner Acumen Design Associates. Featuring the new Mint Suite and Mint Studio, the A321 will commission JetBlue’s anticipated flights to London starting this summer. A layout with fewer seats will debut on a limited number of flights between New York and Los Angeles this year.

JetBlue and Acumen Design Associates unveil next-generation business class cabin

Dignity is coming back to the airline lavatory, which in recent years has been a source of growing complaints from passengers. At best they find newly slimmed-down lavatories on narrowbody aircraft difficult to move in, or more seriously have to enter backwards if they cannot turn around once inside. Visits to constrained lavatories will grow as narrowbody aircraft fly more…

BA's revolutionary lie-flat seat, United’s game-changing business class and Etihad's 'Residence': Meet the British masterminds behind some of the best airline cabin designs ever