Marisa Garcia Qantas has unveiled a new range of elegant new tableware by Australia Industrial Designer David Caon, who was also the lead designer of the airline’s new 787 Dreamliner cabin interior.
The new Qantas tableware set features a 16-piece crockery by Noritake, crafted in Fine Bone China, a five-piece brush finished stainless steel cutlery set and modern glassware.
David Caon worked with Qantas Creative Director Food, Beverage and Service Neil Perry on the design of the new modern, lightweight service set for customers dining in First, Business and Premium Economy. The new tableware line will also feature in the Qantas lounge network.
Their design brief was to combine minimal, classic elegance with quality and functionality, which they have certainly accomplished.
“There is a fine balance between finding ingenious ways of making a product lighter and compromising its utility or quality,” said Caon. “Over many months we sought feedback from cabin crew, customers and Neil and the Rockpool team around the functionality of tableware at 40,000 feet. The new crockery, in particular, will allow Neil and the Rockpool team to be more creative when designing the in-flight menus, give cabin crew more opportunities to interact with customers as well as modernise the dining experience for travellers.”
Caon added that the design of the 787 Dreamliner cabin inspired the design of the new tableware.
Straight lines were minimised in the design with the same 800mm curve applied to each object in a way to soften and humanise. This organically geometric aesthetic lends continuity of design across the range and to the aircraft,” he said.
Qantas Group Executive Brand Marketing & Corporate Affairs Olivia Wirth said the 787 Dreamliner had given Qantas the opportunity to re-design the entire travel experience.
“We have considered everything from cabin lighting, revolutionary new seats and scientific studies to reduce jet lag. We’re now pleased to be bringing together our expert in food and wine with our expert in design to modernise the inflight dining experience and make it even more special,” she said.
“Aside from aesthetics and functionality, we also tasked David to help minimise our carbon footprint by reducing the weight of the new range by eleven percent, resulting in an annual saving of up to 535,000 kilogrammes in fuel.”
The new tableware will fly on the first 787 Dreamliner service from Melbourne to Los Angeles scheduled for 15 December, and will roll out in stages on the remainder of the Qantas fleet.
[…] a more environmentally-friendly fleet by reducing weight of aircraft and interiors, including the tableware […]