airbus

Versace Designs An A319 Jet

Filed under: Wings

Versace and TAG to are teaming up to design a luxury interior for private Airbus 319 jet. If you've seen the many Versace designs for helicopters, jets and homes, the picture above is no surprise. The Versace look of black and white with high-end furnishings and the Greek key motif is so well-established you'd think anyone could just copy it. But then it wouldn't be a Versace. The A319 is being designed for a European client and will go into service in the fourth quarter of 2008. The plane will have four compartments with 16 luxury seats, a salon, galley, business office and a state room with an ensuite bathroom.

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Tags: a319, airbus, private jet, versace

The First Customer-Painted Airbus A380

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

The first customer-painted Airbus A380 has been revealed. Singapore Airlines has the honor of being the first to splash their logo on the ultimate doubledecker jumbo jet. It took 21 days for 100 workers in four shifts to polish and paint the blue and gold Singapore Airlines logo and the name "Singapore Airlines" across the massive plane. The job also took over 580 gallons of paint. Airbus is trying to minimize the ecological damage from the massive project, electrostatic pistols are used to minimize paint mist and used air is cleaned and washed through a multi-stage cleaning process. Singapore Airline will receive the aircraft in October.

[via Asia Travel Tips]

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Tags: a380, airbus, airline, aviation, jumbo jet

More Pics Of The Private Airbus A380

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Ask and you shall receive! Well, little by little at least. Last month Deidre wished for pictures of something other than the dining room of the Private Airbus A380 (as glorious as it may be) and today we have them. They might not be of the whirlpool, master bedroom suite, or the game room, but we do have a sketch of the desert-themed lounge and some very glamorous-looking photos of the grand entrance and VIP lounge.

There's five new pictures in all (if you don't count the dining room) and all I can say is wow. That, and I'm still waiting for a shot of that "glimmering desert mural" behind the curtain we keep hearing about.

[Thanks, Timothy!]

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Tags: 380, A380, airbus, jet, pics, pictures, plane, private

More Details On The First Private Airbus 380

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Ever since I heard about the Airbus 380, the massive double-decker jumbo jet, I knew that some billionaire with a need to roam in luxury would buy one and turn it into a private jet. Now the Wall Street Journal has a story on the first private A380, a project we first heard about way back in 2005. The $300 million plane will be going to an unnamed Middle Eastern head of state who will be spending at least additional $100 million on the interior. Jet interior designer (now there's a gig to have) will be creating The Flying Palace, a plane with two dining areas, a 600-plus-square-foot master bedroom , game room and an Arabian desert-themed lounge with curtains that resemble tents and a fiber-optic mosaic of a shifting desert scene. What is most intriguing is Doret's plan to create a whirlpool tub on the plane. The tub is designed in such a way that it can rapidly drain into the cargo hold if necessary.

The Airbus A380 has been dogged by manufacturing delays and other problems and it was only this month that the press finally got to take a short flight on the plane. There are also major questions about where A380 owners will be able to land the behemoth. Most runways are too small for the plane and airports have been slow to create the expanded landing spots needed. It sounds like the owner of the A380 may be able to sympathize with Larry Ellison, the owner of the Rising Sun megayacht, it's a shame to have the most fabulous creation in the world and have nowhere to park it.

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Tags: a380, airbus, plane, private

A380 Suites Concept

by Trey Evans (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

In a rather bold move, Airbus has unveiled some concept "super first class" suites that could be put into production in the new 380s. The suites are on display at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, and are capable of seating three or four people, and the couch folds out into a bed. The nicest feature I noticed is the bathroom with full shower, which would really be refreshing on those 14 hour trans-globe flights. The read link has some amazing pictures, let's hope this concept is one of the ones that trickles down into the factories.

[Thanks, Andrew]

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Tags: airbus

Should the U.S. Foot the Bill for the A380 Airport Expansions?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

A little over 18 months ago the Airbus 380 first popped up on our radar. We were giddy with the possibilities, imagining these massive planes full of luxury and more space than we had ever dreamed possible. However more and more, the double-decker A380 is looking to be nothing but trouble. The concerns have ranged from environmental factors such as the plane's huge wake to delays in production which could make the plane harder to get. The latest wrinkle comes from a Republican lawmaker who is seeking to get Congress to ban U.S. airports from spending federal money on the upgrades necessary in order to make room for the jumbo jet. Rep. John Mica says that until a U.S. airline buys and uses an A380, foreign airlines should pick up the tab. The U.S. government is currently expected to pay for half of the changes in airports in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and San Francisco but Mica feels this is unfair to U.S. taxpayers since Europe gives governmental loans to Airbus.

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Tags: a380, airbus, flight, planes, wings

Standing Room Only?

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Better start saving up your frequent flier miles because in the not-too-distant future, you may really need them. It is possible that air travel will no longer be an issue of first class versus coach and how much leg room you'll have, but whether you'll have leg room at all.

Some airlines are toying with the idea of eliminating seats from their economy classes and having the section be standing only. Instead of seats, there will be padded boards for patrons to lean against during takeoff and landing, as FAA regulations only require passengers to be "secure," not seated. Airbus, which is the airplane manufacturer heading this movement, has been pitching the idea to several carriers, mostly those in Asia that they perceive as more likely to accept the sardine-like travel arrangements than Americans. The capacity for a flight on an A380 is 500 passengers, but the standing configuration would boost that number to 853. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines reported hearing of the plans from Airbus, but said they had "no interest in increasing seat capacity to [that] level."

There is little doubt that first class seats would be unaffected by a move towards this configurations, perhaps even increasing in size, as airlines add chairs than recline into beds and a wider than ever before.

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Tags: air, airbus, airline, airlines, airplanes, coach, economy class, first class, flying, seats, travel

Design Q Airbus A319 Interior

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

I never tire of checking out what a whole lot of money does to a private jet. This latest one is from Design Q, an English design consultancy who has created a VIP interior for an Airbus A319 for a couple identified as family-conscious power couple in their thirties who travel as a family (PSFK thinks this sounds like the Beckhams and I have to agree). In designing for the individual client, Design Q creates a ‘Personality Map’ of the client's activities, styles and preferences. The result was an interior that integrates three basic needs: work, reset and play. There is an open-plan living area, lounger-style seating with a large projection screen, a bar and a central island which holds drinks and glasses. The upper cabin wall have ambient lighting. A small room in the back allows sleeping space and there is a meeting space for business. In the rear section there are seats for the entourage. This jet interior like the BMW one we covered last week will be on display at the Aircraft Interiors EXPO in Hamburg.

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Tags: airbus, airplane, airport, lufthansa, private jet, private plane

BMW Interiors For The Airbus A350 Jet

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

The picture shown above is part of the design from BMW for the Airbus A350 twinjet that will be shown off at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2006 in Germany next month. One of the cabin's most interesting features is lighting that can project a night sky or clouds on the ceiling. The design also has a bar area and a dome in the entrance to make the cabin appear less cramped. The overhead bins are also larger to take in more rolling bags, two roller cases per passenger for those in business class and one per passenger for those in economy (a big bonus for anyone who has ever had to wrestle their bag into the bin). New Launches has more pictures of the interior.

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Tags: airbus, aircraft interiors, bmw, flight, jet, plane, wings