Qantas has unveiled a new range of inflight tableware by Australian Industrial Designer and lead designer of the Qantas 787 Dreamliner cabin interiors, David Caon. The range includes crockery by Noritake, cutlery and glassware.

In collaboration with Qantas Creative Director Food, Beverage & Service Neil Perry, David Caon has designed new tableware that is modern, lightweight and practical for customers dining in First, Business and Premium Economy and the Qantas lounge network.

The result is an elegant, 16-piece crockery set crafted from Fine Bone China, a five-piece brush finished stainless steel cutlery setting and a sophisticated collection of modern glassware.

Caon’s objective when designing the new tableware was to combine minimal, classic elegance with quality and functionality.

“There is a fine balance between finding ingenious ways of making a product lighter and compromising its utility or quality,” said Mr 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 inflight menus, give cabin crew more opportunities to interact with customers as well as modernise the dining experience for travellers.

“We’ve taken key design cues from the 787 interiors as our inspiration for the 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 added.

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 jetlag. We’re now pleased to be bringing together our expert in food and wine with our expert in design to modernise the in-flight 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 kilograms in fuel.”

The range of crockery, cutlery and glassware will be used inflight in International First, Business and Premium Economy, Domestic Business as well as the First and Business Lounges, and Qantas Clubs. The range will be on board Qantas flights from the first 787 Dreamliner service from Melbourne to Los Angeles on 15 December, and will progressively roll out to the remainder of the Qantas fleet.

ABOUT DAVID CAON
David Caon founded his studio in Sydney in 2009, having worked in Milan and Paris where he designed alongside fellow Australian Marc Newson, for clients including Dom Pérignon, Samsonite and Qantas – when David was part of the team who created the interiors of the airline’s Airbus A380.

David was also responsible for the refurbishment of the airline’s fleet of Boeing 717s and Boeing 737s, as well as the design of Qantas’ International lounges in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Most Recently, David has been commissioned to lead the design of the 787 Dreamliner cabin interiors including Business, Premium Economy and Economy seats. The Dreamliner cabin interiors are a progression of the Qantas aesthetic established by Marc Newson.

ABOUT NORITAKE
Established in 1904, Noritake has been bringing beauty and quality to dining tables around the world with superior artistry, craftsmanship and attention to detail, for over 100 years. Noritake began making inflight tableware for Qantas in 1962. Industrial Designer Marc Newson designed a collection for Noritake in 2007 for Qantas First and Business.