Designing not just for today’s traveller, but for a world of emerging needs over the next 15 years.


Ultra-long haul redefined what it meant to fly. With 16+ hour flights becoming the norm and a new generation of aircrafts arriving, Air New Zealand faced a critical opportunity. To stay competitive through 2025 and well beyond, the airline needed to stop chasing the category and start leading it again. That meant designing not just for today’s traveller, but for a world of emerging needs over the next 15 years.

This was not a typical product development project. It was a shift in mindset, model, and ambition. It was crucial that we developed a holistic inflight future-cabin design strategy that would inspire and inform all aspects of the future aircraft cabin design programme. From brand strategy and design to design capability development, seat, environmental and service design through to digital experiences and activations.



It was vital that the design philosophy became the driver for both form, function, rational and emotional aspects of the experience while expressing the brand attributes that are unique to Air New Zealand.


We worked onsite every week within an integrated engagement model with the Air New Zealand team on all aspects of the program from strategy, research, design, prototyping, strategic storytelling to business case development.


FACE marked the airline’s most ambitious transformation in cabin experience. We built early prototypes, simulated experiences and tested with customers to extract early insights. An integrated design, build, test and learn cadence we led throughout the first three informative years of the program.


To ensure alignment between the future cabin experience and brand, we worked with the brand marketing group to explore and eventually land on a future-focused brand strategy, narrative and roadmap that would strongly influence the personality of the cabin interiors. A design expression and story that could be used throughout the entire plane, yet strong enough to differentiate each cabin class. A story that expressed our national identity at the same time as conveying a progressive airline and culture.


Through both customer research, exemplar analysis and engaging with experts, we highlighted the relevance of a good night’s sleep in overnight routes and learnt more deeply about the factors needed to deliver that to the customer. The need for more space and comfort to enable greater productivity, a greater sense of ownership, privacy and control of both the seat and space.


We used the insights and led numerous design sprints with cross-functional internal and external teams across the aircraft cabin experience including digital, spatial  and even food and beverage design. Seat and cabin decor design was a particular focus, integrating brand by working with the AirNZ industrial design team on colour, patterning, lighting, fabrics and materiality. 

One standout outcome was Skynest, a world-first lie-flat sleep pods for economy passengers, bookable in four-hour blocks to enable true rest and recovery. Skynest attracted global attention and demonstrated the power of innovation within the FACE programme. 

As the airline was building internal CX design capability at that time, we worked closely with the CX leadership and used the project to teach and coach the team on user research, design strategy, storytelling, service design and proposition development. Most importantly, FACE reignited internal ambition. Air New Zealand had once been known for setting benchmarks across design, service and innovation. FACE rekindled that spirit, not by replicating the past, but by creating a more adaptive and connected future.


The work influenced product, service, digital, brand and culture. It laid the foundation for a new era of long-haul travel. More thoughtful, more flexible, and more human.

We've partnered with Air New Zealand for over a decade to help shape some of the airline’s most defining experiences. From brands to products, services to spaces, events to strategies, our work consistently put people at the centre and helped the airline stand out on the global stage.


Throughout this time, we worked across all layers of the organisation. We led strategy, research, design, prototyping, storytelling and business case development. We collaborated closely with emerging CX leaders, using live projects to coach and upskill internal teams in customer research, service design and proposition development.


As the business and culture continue to evolve, we help Air New Zealand ensure its brand stays relevant. We recently led a full brand reset, developing the strategy, narrative and visual expression, and delivering a digital brand platform that gave staff and partners shared tools and language.


What remained consistent was a shared belief in the power of customer-centred design to spark internal ambition and create meaningful, memorable experiences for travellers.