AirAsia, the launch airline for the A330neo, has unveiled a new dimension to long-haul low-cost flying at the Paris Air Show.

The airline says “guests will be able to see and feel the difference with more personal space, larger cabin bag storage space, ambient mood lighting throughout, power sockets in every seat and the quietest cabin in its class.”

The aircraft will be based at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport in Thailand, facilitating growth and network expansion plans to key markets such as Australia, Japan and South Korea.

The aircraft unveiling was attended by AirAsia X Chairman Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, AirAsia X Group CEO Nadda Buranasiri, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer and Rolls-Royce President Civil Aerospace Chris Cholerton, alongside invited industry and international media.

AirAsia X Group CEO Nadda Buranasiri said, “This is a significant milestone for the aviation industry – and importantly for our guests – which will revolutionise the long-haul, value air travel market. AirAsia is thrilled to lead the way once again, as the first airline in Asia Pacific to operate the technologically advanced new generation A330neo aircraft.

With 66 aircraft on direct order and 2 on lease, the A330neo is the future of our long-haul operations delivering an enhanced guest experience including the latest design features and new modifications to make medium-long haul value air travel more comfortable than ever.

Buranasiri added: “AirAsia X continues to focus on delivering the best value fares for medium- to long-haul air travel. The arrival of the A330neo increases our ability to bring new destinations into play. Direct flights to Europe and the US are now possible. We are working on many exciting network and product plans to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by this aircraft’s extended range and significant cost efficiencies, which will be announced in due course.”

Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer said, “Operational efficiency, latest product innovations and growth are core to AirAsia… and to the A330neo too! As the newest, lowest seat-mile cost mid-size widebody, the A330neo will bring a step change in fuel efficiency, and its increased range will open new opportunities for AirAsia X Thailand’s long-haul network expansion.”

Rolls-Royce President Civil Aerospace Chris Cholerton added: “Today is a special day for the Rolls-Royce team, we are thrilled to see the A330neo unveiled at the Paris Air Show with the AirAsia livery. We are excited to see the aircraft grace the skies in Asia. The Trent 7000 is critical to the delivery of the 14% improvement in fuel burn reduction per seat of the A330neo, compared to its predecessor the Trent 700, which is a key factor in this aircraft’s success.”

The AirAsia A330neo will be available for viewing at the Airbus static display from 17-19 June 2019 and will be open to Paris Air Show visitors and media between 9.00am and 10.00am.

As expected Airbus has launched a super fuel-efficient A321XLR version of its very successful A321neo the – at the Paris Air Show.

Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines will be the launch customer for the type with four firm orders.

Airbus said that “following the very positive feedback from the market, Airbus has launched the A321XLR to complement its best-selling A321neo Family. The A321XLR thus becomes the next evolutionary step which responds to market needs for even more range, and creates more value for the airlines by bringing 30 per cent lower fuel burn per seat than previous-generation competitor aircraft.”

READ: Airbus celebrates 50 glorious years. 

Starting from 2023, the aircraft will deliver an unprecedented Xtra Long Range of up to 4,700nm – 15 per cent more than the A321LR and with the same fuel efficiency.

Airbus added: “With this added range, airlines will be able to operate a lower-cost single-aisle aircraft on longer and less heavily travelled routes – many of which can now only be served by larger and less efficient wide-body aircraft. This will enable operators to open new world-wide routes such as India to Europe or China to Australia, as well as further extending the Family’s non-stop reach on direct transatlantic flights between continental Europe and the Americas. For passengers, the A321XLR’s new Airspace cabin will provide the best travel experience, while offering seats in all classes with the same high-comfort as on long-haul widebody aircraft.”

The A321XLR has been designed to maximize overall commonality with the A321LR and the rest of the A320neo Family while introducing minimal changes needed to give the aircraft an Xtra Long Range with increased revenue payload.

The changes include: the new permanent Rear Centre Tank (RCT) for more fuel volume; a modified landing gear for an increased maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 101 metric tonnes; and an optimised wing trailing-edge flap configuration to preserve the same take-off performance and engine thrust requirements as today’s A321neo. In particular, the new optimised RCT holds more fuel than several optional Additional Centre Tanks (ACTs) did previously, while taking up less space in the cargo hold – thus freeing-up underfloor volume for additional cargo and baggage on long-range routes.

The A320neo Family is the world’s best-selling single-aisle aircraft with over 6,500 orders from more than 100 customers since its launch in 2010. It incorporates new-generation engines and Sharklet wing-tip devices plus other improvements which together bring double-digit fuel savings over its predecessor, the A320ceo Family.

British Airways is making sure the union jack continues to fly over Australia with a daily Boeing 777 flight to Sydney.

It is the last European carrier to serve Australia with its own metal and full points to it for hanging in there.

This may give British Airways an aviation empire upon which the sun never sets but it is a domain that could use some reforms.

These are in the pipeline in the form of a new business class due to arrive with the airline’s A350s but it will be some time before they work through the system.

READ: British Airways unveils spiffing new business class.

I have to confess to having a bit of soft spot for the British flag carrier: my first ever taste of business class was on a British Airways flight between Pittsburgh and London in the 1990s and, like many first times, it was a magical experience.

This was not just because of the plush armchair seats, good food and fine wine but because we saw the Aurora Borealis as we winged our way across the Atlantic.

Fast-forward to 2019 and magical is not a word I would use to describe the current BA Club World, although my flight from Sydney to London was not as bad as some had led me to expect.

Disillusionment started to creep in when I tried to reserve a seat on my two-stage trip from Sydney to London via Singapore. It simply hadn’t occurred to me that they would charge for seat assignment in business class.

On most airlines these days, where you sit is not such a big deal. On British Airways it is, the airline’s weird  2-4-2  business class layout, with half the seats facing backward, means some seats are worse than others.

I could reserve a seat, I discovered, but it would cost 174 euros – 68 euros to Singapore and 96 euros from Singapore to London.  This was despite being a Qantas silver frequent flyer.

As it turned out, the seats became free in the week before I traveled so I was able to secure forward-facing aisle seats.

Check-in at Sydney Airport was painless and the business class lounge is now in “the House” a mid-sized Etihad lounge that’s quite comfortable but on the other side of the terminal from the gate.

The odd configuration makes settling into the plane an interesting experience.

The strange sensation of sitting down and facing somebody forces passengers into exchanging pleasantries as they ponder social implications of raising the privacy screen.

It turned out that nobody with whom I conversed particularly liked the layout but they considered BA’s business class better value than competitors such as Qantas and Singapore Airlines.

To be fair, the seats are not horrible.  They’re surprisingly comfortable in recline but too short and too narrow — just 20 inches wide and 72-73  inches long — for bigger people when it comes to lie-flat mode. No amount of brand-name linen cures that, although the decent sized pillow was welcome.

As with many outdated designs, storage is a problem.  There’s a drawer at foot level but it’s difficult to access, particularly when the fold-down footrest is deployed. The same goes for laptop power.

Deploying the footrest also blocks aisle access for the person occupying the seat in front of the one next to you.

There’s a reasonably-sized swing-out touch-screen that proved easy to use and that allows you to access BA’s quite acceptable collection of films, TV shows and other options.

The headphone socket is next to the right shoulder and the noise canceling headphones were good enough that there was no compulsion to unpack the Bose alternative.

Good points included a nicely-designed tray table that pulled back for food service while allowing movement in and out of the seat in half mode and providing somewhere to put stuff.

An amenities kit from The White Company contained socks, a comfortable eyeshade, earplugs, a toothbrush and a useful pen as well as the usual moisturizer/lip balm pack.

We didn’t get a welcome drink after boarding in Sydney — but it would apparently have been Champagne Canard_Duchene “Cuvee Leonie” Brut if we had — and turbulence meant there was some delay in the follow-up, post-take-off libation.

When it did arrive it wasn’t quite what I’d requested and there appeared to be some difficulty attracting attention, including with the call button, to get it modified. I was impressed, however, by the cut glass/crystal tumbler.

The menu offered four entrees, three mains, three desserts and a cheese board.

I opted for the Proscuitto, which was delicious but set me up for another disappointment.

The grilled beef was nuked in a way only the British can overcook things and brought new meaning to the term “well done”.

It was a sad accompaniment to luscious the Fortius Reserva 2010 Spanish wine  — one of the two red wine choices — with which it was washed down.

Partially offsetting the steak-based culinary crime was a very tasty antipasti plate towards the end of the flight that included a spiced chicken kebab, hummus, muhammara and labneh cheese.

This was accompanied by a lovely coconut and orange cupcake and black cherry pie tartlet.

The staff were pleasant and attentive, chatting amiably with passengers, and after the initial drink mix-up, there was only one other hiccup.

That was partially my fault for not checking more closely the jacket they handed me and failing to realize it wasn’t mine when I left the plane in Changi.

The system caught up with me when I checked in at the lounge and my inadvertently purloined garment was replaced by the real thing.

Most people continue their Journey on the 777 after a short tech break but I switched to the A380 service leaving after a short break of just over two hours.

That gave me time to visit the BA lounge and have a shower. You can do that on the 777 service too but you have to be quick and hope the showers are not busy.

For reasons that are not entirely clear but presumably involve money, BA has opted to split its A380 across both levels.  I opted for the upper deck with a 2-3-2 seating configuration.

The seat seemed pretty much the same as the one in the 777 but the crew was older and a little more efficient.

No problems with the food on this flight — the grilled snapper in tarragon cream source was fine — and the traditional mixed grill breakfast was great. No one can do a hearty breakfast like the Brits.

Even so, I would foolishly go on to try steak again on one of my subsequent flights with much the same result as the first.

I did six legs with BA on this particular trip and my other observation is that Australians — and even Americans — may be a bit shocked by what passes for business class in the airline’s smaller planes plying routes in Europe.

It was essentially economy class with the seat next to you blocked off.

As far as I could tell, you get an inch of extra seat pitch which brings it up to 30 inches, compared with a barely humane 29 inches in Euro Traveller.

You do get food and drink and there was another of those great breakfasts on one flight to offset the pain of tight seating

Still, selling economy seats as business class is not really cricket in my view.

BA is in the process of correcting some of its pitfalls with a £6.5 billion investment program that is seeing changes to lounges and inflight product as well as new aircraft and routes.

Until those changes arrive, flying on the airline will remain a case of balancing value and product.