Aviation

AirAsia Wins World’s Best Low-Cost Airline For 12th Consecutive Year At Skytrax 2021

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SEPANG, 29 September 2021 – AirAsia today celebrates winning the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline award for 12 consecutive years, as announced at the Skytrax 2021 World Airline Awards last night. This comes hot on the heels of another top recognition it received for Business Innovation at Flight Global’s Airline Strategy Awards 2021 on Tuesday.

Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia Group said “This is truly a great honour after what has been the most turbulent period in commercial aviation history.

“Our brand has always been about the people, enabling everyone to fly and putting our own staff first. To receive this award for 12 years running is even more humbling because it’s judged by many millions of people who have chosen to fly with us, prior to the pandemic hitting in March 2020.

“We wish to thank the event organisers at Skytrax who continue to prioritise consumer’s choice as their key measure for success.

“What we have achieved in the past 18 months during the downtime in flying is incredible. We have turned one of Asia’s leading airline brands into a one stop travel and lifestyle super app, catering for much more than just air travel, which will see us return stronger and more robust in a post-Covid world.

“This award goes to my people – our incredible Allstars, who have remained resilient and committed to customer service and delivery excellence throughout the pandemic and who have never let a crisis beat them.

“As vaccination rates in all of our key markets continue to accelerate we can’t wait to paint the skies red again very soon, and deliver the very best value and guest obsessed service in all that we do.”

Commenting on the Award as the World’s Best Low-Cost, Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax said: “AirAsia remains a favourite with air travellers and the airline’s continued dominance in this awards category is a remarkable achievement in this very competitive market.”

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Over 100 customer nationalities participated in the survey, with the 2021 Awards based on 13.42 million eligible survey entries counted in the final results (88% of these were registered up to March 2020).

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Aviation

Airbus Enhances A350 Cabin with 10-Abreast Seating

Airbus has announced a new partnership with Jiatai Aircraft Equipment, a Chinese aircraft seating manufacturer, to supply upgraded economy-class seats for the A350 widebody series.

This collaboration, unveiled at the 2024 Airshow China, focuses on developing a newly designed economy seat tailored for the A350‘s New Production Standard (NPS) cabin.

One of the key features of the NPS cabin is the ability to accommodate 17-inch wide economy seats, compared to the previous 16.5-inch wide seats that airlines were limited to in the A350’s earlier configurations.

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This change is made possible by the expanded space in the NPS cabin, which is 35 inches longer and 4 inches wider than the previous version. This extra space is achieved by slightly moving the cockpit wall forward and shifting the rear pressure bulkhead back by one frame.

The wider cabin allows airlines to add up to 30 extra economy seats without compromising comfort. For airlines opting for a 3-4-3 seating layout, the 17-inch wide seats are an excellent choice for a more comfortable passenger experience. However, some airlines, such as Iberia, may choose to retain a 9-abreast layout with wider seats for added comfort.

The NPS cabin also offers enhanced flexibility for airline operators. One major advantage is the ability to easily switch between a 9-abreast and 10-abreast seating configuration without requiring significant downtime for aircraft reconfiguration. Airlines can use the same seat rails, tracks, and IFE interfaces, making the transition smoother and quicker.

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In addition, the design of the floor attachments and air-conditioning systems has been optimized for 10-abreast seating, meaning airlines can upgrade their cabins without needing to make substantial modifications to the aircraft’s structure.

Though it’s still unclear when Jiatai’s economy-class seats will be officially added to the A350’s Buyer Furnished Equipment (BFE) catalogue, the collaboration marks a significant step toward enhancing the A350’s cabin offerings.

With this partnership, Airbus is providing more seating options for airlines, ensuring that they can meet diverse customer needs while improving overall operational efficiency.