Welcome to the first edition of our new format version of The Up Front Update!
Thanks to all of you who offered feedback about what you valued most in the Update over our first six months, which we’re only too happy to take on board.
The new Update — for our Premium and Business tier members, which we recently renamed from our Subscriber and Pro levels as a result of your feedback — brings you more of our unique analysis on the bigger stories of the week, together with their context, history, and background.
This week, Gareth Edwards, The Up Front’s publisher and a renowned aviation historian, brought you the fourth installation of the remarkable story of the California Clipper, the Pan Am flying boat that flew the wrong way around the world from Auckland to New York after the outbreak of World War II. Next week: the story’s almost-unbelievable conclusion. Keep an eye out on your inboxes: Premium and Business subscribers will get it first as an early release.
In this Update:
- Dubai Airshow orders show demand for larger aircraft at the bigger end of both narrowbody and widebody markets
- Ethiopian’s Diamond order for MAX provides a useful data point on “recliner-plus” market for mid-haul
- On-trend China Southern/tangerine interiors point to aesthetic standard-setting, Chinese airline premiumisation, and more mid-haul “recliner-plus” flatbeds
- Qantas’ new SYD, AKL business lounges show the ongoing Cathayfication of premium airport aesthetic
- Reader question time: why would LEVEL curtain off a five-seat crew rest area in its ex-Virgin Australia business class?
