AIX PRE-BRIEF: New seats from front to back in the aircraft, secret hidden product rooms, not-quite-doors, fascinating new CMF options, better accessibility options, and smart sustainability improvements. Here’s our first set of must-visits at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2026.

Fascinating insights at #AIX26. Technically, United Airlines are the third largest streaming platform in the US. What people will watch on a plane thus drives studio production strategy far more than most people realise.

Genuinely cannot say how horrific Betty Sixfingers the AI slop assistant was in person. Proper uncanny valley stuff — worse than that “Jolene from the Dallas Hilton” one that was going around. Big yikes. #AIX26

So many options for personalized content on planes, and airlines do almost none of it. I really like this slide from Patrick Biggerstaff from @panasonic.aero. #aix2026 #paxex

Genuinely cannot say how horrific Betty Sixfingers the AI slop assistant was in person. Proper uncanny valley stuff — worse than that “Jolene from the Dallas Hilton” one that was going around. Big yikes. #AIX26

Ah yes, famously the inflight power sector has never produced easily replaceable USB power points. This image of an IFPL easy-replace USB-A outlet from my professional image archive dates from 2016.

They missed the crucial step for infiltrating Britain’s political culture. Charge £1 for it but give everyone a free bottle of Buxton water alongside it. Kept the Telegraph circulation artificially high for years.

The next big thing from ThinKom is impressively small. The ThinAir Nexus antenna brings ThinKom's proven multi-orbit performance to market in a footprint matching LEO-only ESAs. paxex.aero/thinkom-thin... #PaxEx #AvGeek #IFEC #AIX2026

United’s ‘basic’ business class will earn Basic Economy miles 🤔 www.executivetraveller.com/news/united-...

Time for #AIX26! If you're here, get in touch if you want to chat about anything (on the record or off). If you're not, then don't worry - we'll be bringing you all the key info through articles and podcasts. Get one month FREE business-tier access if you sign up now theupfront.media/business2026

Kicking off #AIX26 with the Passenger Experience Conference — which in all my mumbleteen years of coming to this show I have never seen so empty. The lack of airlines this year is absolutely glaring.

AIX: ThinKom Unveils Space-optimized ThinAir Nexus Aircraft Antenna On the eve of Aircraft Interiors Expo, ThinKom has unveiled its new antenna - the ThinAir Nexus. The compact antenna allows airlines to rethink what is possible, giving efficiency, size, power, and flexibility in a package size…

Travel frequently? Fascinated by aircraft and airlines? We’re at #AIX2026, the Aircraft Interiors Expo, from Monday through Thursday, bringing our subscribers our hallmark in-depth, independent aviation journalism at the heart of the passenger experience — plus critical industry intelligence.

Ahead of #aix we spoke with Ben McGuire, CEO of Mirus Aircraft Seating, on what he'd change if he could wave a magic wand and fix creaking industry supply chains. His answer was blunt: supply chains need stability. President Trump is a barrier to that. Read more: theupfront.media/the-chain-ep...

LISTEN NOW: what’s it like being easyJet’s new seatmaker? Fresh off a win for 230 shipsets of its Kestrel ultra-lightweight slimline seat, Ben McGuire, Marcus Williams and Adam Challenor from Mirus join us for a very up front discussion of the supply chain from the seatmaker perspective.

LISTEN NOW: our latest podcast, covering everything you need to know ahead of the Aircraft Interiors Expo, including: The spread of "basic business class" AIX tips for first-time attendees Our exclusive preview of urgent tactical questions and important strategic issues for the show

BREAKING: SEATS. Quite literally. Ten new seat certification criteria — and some 500 dynamic tests this year alone. Two (or more) new business class seats. Customisation, and bespoke premium and business. Sustainability… and more, in our pre-AIX deep-dive with Recaro Aircraft seating’s CEO.

TOKYO — in the glitzy Tokyo Midtown boutique space in Roppongi, and in the less glitzy yet fascinating ANA customer experience studio in [Secret Location, Tokyo], we reveal how ANA created the new sofa-style The Room FX suite, and why it’s confident in getting the seat on 787-9s… on time.

Ahead of the Aircraft Interiors Expo, we sit down for an in-depth discussion with Diehl Aviation’s chief customer officer Harald Mehring, gleaning critical industry intelligence for our Business subscribers across a wide variety of topics. Subscribe or upgrade to unlock this and all our work!

WE VISIT: the new revamp of Heathrow’s best — and the world’s best business class — lounge, Virgin Atlantic’s iconic Clubhouse. From a cheery “hurray!” from Princess Diana to a secret sweetie cupboard, plus Eddie and Pats (sweetie, darling) and #avgeek icons, lounge glitz & glam is BACK.

WE VISIT: the new revamp of Heathrow’s best — and the world’s best business class — lounge, Virgin Atlantic’s iconic Clubhouse. From a cheery “hurray!” from Princess Diana to a secret sweetie cupboard, plus Eddie and Pats (sweetie, darling) and #avgeek icons, lounge glitz & glam is BACK.

Speculation only on our part, but this points to the Saudi subsidies for all those airlines launching flights to Riyadh and elsewhere in the country having been pulled, presumably under some kind of conflict clause.

BREAKING: Willie Walsh in as IndiGo’s new CEO, replacing Pieter Elbers.

Another week, another STUNNER of a European airline anniversary livery —  this time from SAS.

We’re here for you. And your rooftop bar.

How can the aviation supply chain — and airlines — work better with industrial designers? That’s the fascinating discussion we just had with Weiwei He from tangerine on the latest episode of The Chain, our limited-run pre-AIX podcast diving deep into the fundamentals of the supply chain:

NEW: United’s 787-9 Elevate Ascent goes on sale with doors locked out — at $499 an upgrade for the studios — and Spirit makes a Big Front Seat move among US premiumisation headwinds. Also: BA adds 9% to its longhaul network, including a return to Melbourne… theupfront.media/update-36-un...

And your Friday listen… The fascinating complexities of the world of surface materials — what you sit on, touch, and look at within the cabin — in episode 2 of our special limited-edition podcast, The Chain, ahead of the Aircraft Interiors Expo.

And your Friday listen… The fascinating complexities of the world of surface materials — what you sit on, touch, and look at within the cabin — in episode 2 of our special limited-edition podcast, The Chain, ahead of the Aircraft Interiors Expo.

Our top read of the week: exactly what’s been hamstringing Lufthansa’s Allegris business class seats.

EXCLUSIVE: we reveal why Lufthansa’s Allegris 787 business cabins were delayed in certification — and the regulatory reasons why three seats are still blocked in the cabin. Share and subscribe to support in-depth, independent aviation media, right at the heart of the passenger experience:

EXCLUSIVE: we reveal why Lufthansa’s Allegris 787 business cabins were delayed in certification — and the regulatory reasons why three seats are still blocked in the cabin. Share and subscribe to support in-depth, independent aviation media, right at the heart of the passenger experience:

The supply chain for seats, cabins and aircraft interiors is immensely complicated — and creaking. We now have a podcast for that. Out now: The Chain, our special limited-run, free-to-listen series running up to the Aircraft Interiors Expo next month.

The supply chain for seats, cabins and aircraft interiors is immensely complicated — and creaking. We now have a podcast for that. Out now: The Chain, our special limited-run, free-to-listen series running up to the Aircraft Interiors Expo next month.

just learned about these (prototype?) airport buses from the 80s, i believe all from the Serbian (then Yugoslavian) company Ikarus

OUT NOW in this week’s Update: • Gulf and Asia-Europe flight corridor disruption • Why Lufthansa’s first A320 refit took so long • Detail of Eurowings’ Premium BIZ recliner class • 3 new lounges at LAX for Korean Air • and is the ten-minute viral safety video/tourism board ad on its way out?

Question: how long do you think an A320 would need to sit on the ground for a full economy/Eurobusiness refit? Did you answer “eight months”? Us neither. So why did the airplane not move from last June until last month? That, and more, in this week’s Update: theupfront.media/update-34-84...

Airlines have a one-size-fits-all approach to passenger assistance, and it sucks. It also saves airlines a ton of money because they outsource the responsibility and then stop caring. A strong piece from @thatjohn.bsky.social @theupfront.media on the issue: theupfront.media/disabled-pas...

Brussels Airlines is now doing codeshare rail with Deutsche Bahn from BRU to Cologne (+Aachen + Liège). This is great, but to note: 1) it’s only two daily trains 2) Brussels is *great* as a plane-to-plane transfer airport (one of Europe’s best!), but terrible as an origin and destination airport

The latest of Lufthansa’s gorgeous 100th anniversary blue crane liveries is out, on the A380 — and looks great. Lufthansa also promises an A350-1000 with the livery soon. Not sure where that’s coming from, since Lufthansa’s first -1000 isn’t due for delivery until 2028.

Okay SUDDEN BONUS SUBSCRIPTION OFFER, #aviation people! Use code "PCOTTIEST" at signup to get 20% off a Business subscription to the Up Front. In honour of some truly terrible AI Crystal Cabin submissions and so you can read @thatjohn.bsky.social's descent into madness reviewing them.

But for one of the finalists, the only conclusion we can draw is this.

“20% OFF is Hight Pcottiest”. “Onft:Offer”. AI sludge text, fake charts, nonexistent holograms. The Crystal Cabin Awards — the Oscars of the passenger experience world — has two finalists whose entries are riddled with gen AI slop. theupfront.media/the-up-front...

Airbus’ New Production Standard for the A350 isn’t just about getting 30 more seats on today’s widebodies — though that’s a definite benefit if you’re an airline. NPS is also about new front cabin options, competing with Boeing’s 777X, and enabling the economics of a future A350-2000 stretch.

Lufthansa can now seat passengers 25 out of 28 seats in its Allegris business class cabins on its 787s — up from just 4 — now that all but three in the second row are FINALLY certified by the FAA.

OUT NOW and free to read thanks to our incredible subscribers: why Philippine Airlines' new A350-1000 cabins are ones to watch, and not just because they're the first carrier to take ten-abreast economy in A350 NPS. theupfront.media/pal-raises-t...

OUT NOW: Our in-depth analysis of the week's #PaxEx news: A new name for RAVE after Safran's diverstment, Cathay’s new A330 regional business seat, Qantas goes Economy Plus, the end of Jetstar Japan, and the American A321XLR Collins Aurora herringbone… theupfront.media/update-32-a-...

Quick: which of these USB sockets will charge your phone, how fast — and which of them is the cable that came with your current phone? I've been writing about the power and evolving USB standards on airplanes for nigh on two decades now, and it's more complicated than ever for passengers.

Our latest Business Readout analysis: From the USB-IF to USB-PD to Type-C, with milliampere-hours, volts and watts, passengers are understandably confused about charging onboard — so it’s up to airlines, cabin designers and the supply chain to bring clarity. theupfront.media/business-rea...

OUT NOW: a full business class triad for this week's The Up Front Update! Air India wows with JPA & TrendWorks designs for Ascent on new 787s, and the Lufthansa Group takes two more variants of Thompson Vantage XL for Discover and Lufthansa itself. theupfront.media/update-31-ai...