The past year has been an interesting and very successful one for Simpliflying with a number of new client acquisitions and tons of exciting free resources such as infographics and Top 10 case-packs posted regularly to the blog amongst other things. At the brink of the new year, we relive ten of the most popular articles on SimpliFlying in 2011:

10. Social seating: Have you read about the Malaysian Airline initiative that led the airline to create a much talked about Facebook booking engine that allowed people to sit with their friends on the airline’s flights?

9. Airports in social media: In the ninth place we have a Top 10 case-pack, an initiative helmed by our Senior Innovation Officer Shubhodeep Pal, on how airports have driven engagement trough social media.

8. Blockbuster social initiative: Next, in 8th place we find one, if not the, most successful social media campaigns of 2011, the AA Advantage “mystery miles” campaign that hit the headlines in February by achieving an 84 fold growth of its Facebook fans in 54 hours.

7. Airline Twitter initiatives: In the seventh place we find …

**This a follow up article to the LIVE coverage of the Lufthansa A380 inaugural flight to JFK, by Rachel Levy**

On Tuesday, Shashank called me and asked “What are you doing this weekend?” Knowing him, I knew that was probably trouble =p Apparently Lufthansa was going to be flying the Airbus A380 from Frankfurt to JFK for the first time on Monday, SimpliFlying was invited, and the press group was leaving on Saturday. While I love to travel, this was very last minute, but given the opportunity, I said yes, of course.

I didn’t realize, just how incredible this opportunity would be. From flying business class, to a tour of the maintenance hangar, a tour of every inch of the plane, to interviews of the pilots, head of maintenance, a visit to the cockpit dinner overlooking the runway, this was certainly the experience of a lifetime.

The A380 is not new to Lufthansa, nor is it new to Airbus, but Lufthansa is set to be the largest A380 operator in Europe. Airbus currently has 244 orders from airlines, Lufthansa being #3 with 15 planes, after Emirates and Singapore Airlines. Each A380 customer has the ability to customize …

**This was the LIVE coverage from the event. For post event trip report with videos and hundreds of photos, please click here**

Once again, we’ve been fortunate enough to be on the inaugural flight of an A380 to New York. Almost two and a half years ago, we brought to you the first Emirates A380 flight Live, and over the next couple of days, we will share the experience aboard the Business Class on Lufthansa’s first A380 flight to the US.

On Monday, February 28th Lufthansa’s A380 will make its inaugural flight from Frankfurt to JFK, landing around 2pm EST. Rachel Levy (@bostonmarketer), who’s been an integral part of the SimpliFlying team over the last year, will be sharing her experiences on Twitter and here. We have also created a Twitter list of all those on the inaugural flight, and you can follow them here.

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Over the past couple of months, I’ve spent a lot of time in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and that resulted in an overdose of branding messages from regional airlines like Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Tiger Airways.

I was intrigued in particular by Malaysia Airlines’ “Malaysian Hospitality” campaign – which is a play on the MH code of the airline. Soon enough, I got to experience the “world’s best in-flight service” myself, on Business Class from Kuala Lumpur to Los Angeles (see photos at the bottom of this article). And here’s what I feel is the essence of Malaysian Hospitality – it’s the “human-ness” of flying. Let me explain what I mean.
Malaysian Hospitality – a story of genuine care
It may sound strange, but a lot of airlines that have good service often lack “humanity” in their service. Sometimes, it even becomes robotic – I’m sure you’ve seen robotic smiles plastered on flight attendants. Malaysia Airlines’ service, in contrast, was genuine and very human – one that makes you feel good as a person. Let me share a story.

I opted to have my meal soon after take-off, while the gentleman next to me chose to have it later. I first …

As promised at the start of the year, SimpliFlying will be bringing you a new section with video trip reports – mostly shot at 35,000 feet. Because the best assessment of an airline brand can only be done during the Brand eXecution! Here’s the first of such reports. In this 3 min video trip report, I share my experience on-board one of Etihad Airways‘ brand new Airbus A320 planes. This was a flight from Athens, Greece to New Delhi, India, via Abu Dhabi. Three things stood out about Etihad: 1) They greet you by name and talk to you personally2) The planes smell of the desert!3) Their transit lounge for Business Class in Abu Dhabi offers free spa treatments! My rating for the flight is 4.5 out of 5. njoy the 3 min video trip report (Click here if you can’t watch the video) If you haven’t flown Etihad Airways before, I’d encourage you to give it a shot – they’re one of …

American Airlines has recently launched a new flash-animated website where visitors can sample their new Business Class and First Class seats and amenities. It’s tastefully done, and similar to the effort by Cathay Pacific last year.

What’s more impressive is how American Airlines has created a highly personalized email brand campaign to get people to this website. Basically, anyone can increase their chances of winning the lucky draw by recommending the website to four friends. You may think that’s like spamming, but the thinking ends there.

What comes to the inbox is a beautifully crafted email that is highly personalized for the recipient. You’d almost want to jump ahead and click the link. The email is concise, humorous and actionable. Of the three key points they mention, only one is a “sell”, and the others are bound to make you laugh, like “You wish you’d rather win that amazing prize instead of Thomas”.

I’ve taken a screenshot of the email here and distilled the key lessons anyone can learn about email marketing. And with all the spam that we get in our inbox these days, such an email is a breath of fresh air. Well done, AA….

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Sleeping for 12 hours straight is uncommon in today’s busy world. Doing that while blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube over Greenland is even more rare. But that was that was the best part of my flight from New York’s Kennedy airport to Hong Kong, aboard Cathay Pacific’s new business class last weekend.

It’s the first time that I’ve recovered from my jet lag in just a day. And that’s enough to convince me that this is probably the best way to travel from New York to Hong Kong. Let me share my personal experience, and you be the judge.
Keeping the promise
Before I boarded the flight from Kennedy airport, while browsing through the Financial Times, I saw a Cathay Pacific advertisement (see picture) for their new business class, which highlighted their cozy beds, as well as the new StudioCX entertainment systems.

True enough, those were two of the key highlights of my flight – I enjoyed uninterrupted sleep and watched a good selection of movies on the 15-inch widescreen when awake. The noise-canceling headphones that were included enhanced the whole experience. Moreover, the seats were almost exactly the same as the virtual demo on Cathay Pacific’s website. Though, I had checked the movies listing on Cathay Pacific’s website before the flight, they turned out to be different on board. In reality, the selection was better (with 100 movies!), so I didn’t really mind that.
Top quality in-flight products
There are a few key items on every business traveler’s mind when traveling long haul – privacy, comfort, space, and to a certain extent, exclusivity. Cathay Pacific’s new Business Class comes up tops in privacy and comfort. The seat converts to a fully-flat bad in just the press of a button. And the bed is very comfortable indeed. The plush pillow and blanket ensure you’re put to instant sleep.

The herring-bone seat configuration ensures complete privacy, as each seat is surrounded by a shell – perfect for the overworked among us who can’t beat the urge to open up that sensitive document. There is an international power adapter and a USB port in the seat too. There is a sense of exclusivity as well, since the Business Class passengers alighted from the plane before everyone else, had bigger television screens, tables had table covers. The AgnusB amenity kit also contained a number of cosmetics, socks and eye shades. But I have to admit that the seat wasn’t as wide as I’ve seen on Singapore Airlines’ new Business Class. Nevertheless, it wasn’t something I’d get too concerned about.

Professionalism is the key word in service
Cathay Pacific is among the famed Asian carriers like Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways that are renowned for their in-flight service. And indeed, the service was very professional on board this 16 hour flight too. It’s always nice to be greeted by your name as you enter the aircraft or just as you’re being served dinner. In my case, I had cut my thumb just before boarding and asked for a band-aid as I got seated. Though I had to wait a while (since the stewardesses were busy preparing the aircraft for departure), not only was I given three strips, but a couple of stewardess stopped by to ask me how I cut myself and if I needed anything else. That was sweet.

This blog’s predictions that all-business class airlines would go extinct have come true, with British Airways making an offer of $107.3 million for the last remaining major all-business class airline – France’s L’Avion. With one less competitor operating between Paris and New York, BA’s new OpenSkies airline will be able to dominate the route. In fact, since L’Avion was also operating Boeing 757s, they may now be combined to form a fleet of three Boeing 757s for OpenSkies. According to Reuters, L’Avion started in January 2007 and has transported 65,000 passengers. But the going was certainly getting tough as the price of oil crossed $140 per barrel, evidence of which are the recent spate of bankruptcies in the airline industry.

Big bird BA picks up the last fish in the river (Image Credit: Esox Lucius)

How does this impact the British Airways and OpenSkies brands?

The effect of this acquisition on the parent airline’s brand should be generally positive, due to two key factors. Firstly, the lack of competition would surely help the OpenSkies brand since there is …

With all-business falling from the sky like flies, the discussion today explores whether all-business class travel on full-service airlines has any future.

In times of economic uncertainty, business travel decreases as organizations slash travel budgets. The International Air Transport Assn. is already reporting that business and first-class travel have experienced the biggest plunge in five years. Promising all-business class airlines like MaxJet, Eos and Silverjet have gone out of business in just a matter of months. Other airlines are cutting capacity too, as fuel costs rise. So what does this mean for the future of business travel? Is it going extinct, or is it here to stay? Let’s analyze this from two perspectives: business class-only airlines, and full service airlines with specific all-business routes.

All-business class airlines: Verdict – Going Extinct

The all-business model was always considered an experiment and at record high oil prices any new model struggles. Aviation analysts point to the premium-class graveyard where the tombstones are reminders of such short-lived U.S. airlines as Air One, Air Atlanta, McClain, Regent, MGM Grand and Legend. Most of these offered domestic US routes only, which re-affirms the point that there is little domestic market for all-business carriers.