Continental Airlines Inc. on Monday showed off new fully reclining seats that it will put in business class of some jets beginning next year.

The airline said that the seats would go into Boeing 777 aircraft used mostly on trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific routes beginning in fall 2009, and later on Boeing 757 and 787 jets.

Continental unveiled the seats at a travel convention in Los Angeles. Airlines have been sprucing up their first- and business-class cabins, especially on international routes, to compete for lucrative business travelers.

Emirates Airline’s will launch its first A380 commercial service from Dubai to New York JFK on August 1st. The 14-hour non-stop flight will also be the first-ever commercial A380 service to the United States.

Emirates expects delivery of five A380s in its current financial year and from December 1, first class passengers will be able to enjoy a shower during a flight between Heathrow and Dubai for a price of $9,500.

The A380 airbuses will have to carry an extra 500kg of water,25 per cent more than currently, to ensure that all 14 First Class passengers can have a decent dousing.

British Airways is going to buy the French all-business airline l’Avion for 54 million pounds ($107 million) as it steps up efforts to take advantage of the recent liberalization of transatlantic travel.

The privately owned airline flies two Boeing 757 aircraft with 90 seats each between Paris and New York. L’Avion has flown 65,000 passengers since its January 2007 launch.

The deal, which includes £26m of net cash on L’Avion’s balance sheet, will allow OpenSkies to raise its Paris Orly-New York flights to three per day. Both carriers use reconfigured Boeing 757 aircraft.

With oil skirting $130 a barrel and demand for business-class travel slowing, it’s not the best time to launch an airline .

However, Forbes reports that Peter Leiman and Cameron Ogden, two Harvard Business School graduates are launching the new private jet taxi service, Blink, on June 12.

Blink’s current flight plans take you through much of Western Europe and the the tickets are up to 25% more expensive than regular business-class travel for seats on their four-seater Cessna Citation Mustang.

Think the price of your airline tickets is growing while the legroom is shrinking? Well, it isn’t for everybody. Elite travellers are accustomed to significantly better accomodations.

Newsweek is singling out what it says are the eight most luxurious airlines in the world right now, and by the looks of some of these pictures, some of these flying experiences might have you thinking hard about actually caring whether you reach your destination !

The eight most luxurious airlines in the world enlisted by Newsweek in order are:

• Virgin Atlantic
• Qatar Airways
• Emirates
• Singapore
• British Airways
• Qantas
• Thai Airways
• Swiss International Airlines

Source : universeofluxury

On first glimpse, it may look futuristic but the very functionality of the suite is that offers elite privacy for the First Class traveler.

Elegantly designed S-shaped cabins, the integrated recliner turn the seat into a fully flat bed that offers a sound sleep to its passengers.

The iPod connectivity allows commuters to plug in there iPod and view the needful on the huge FC suites with large video monitor.