For those of you who have been around Economy Class and Beyond for some time, you’ll remember we covered the Airspace by Airbus A330neo cabin in-depth in 2016.
Well, Airbus has been busy and has refreshed its demonstrator cabin, with a bunch of new features.
Let’s explore.
Editors note. You do not want to know how many attempts to get this photo.
First up is a new lighting solution – This enhanced ceiling lighting at the Door-2 location is called Airspace Welcome Panel, features the Airspace stencil pattern.
It will be standard in all new A330neos to be delivered from Q1 2026. Furthermore, Airbus will offer as an option the possibility for airlines to customise it.
This is supported by an Airspace Hero Light will be introduced as a premium option for the A330neo in 2027.
This will be a key differentiation opportunity for an airline in the Doors-1 to Doors-2 area, being customisable with 16 million colours and a unique pattern. It is typically the business class section where there is no middle set of overhead bins attached to the ceiling as the Airspace lateral bins provide sufficient storage capacity.
On the sidewall
By their very nature, to some people the sidewall is just somewhere to slump against – but there are important notes here.
Firstly, the new sidewall design will have language consistent with A350 and A320 Families Airspace cabins – so if you’ve flown an aircraft with Airscapce, you should recognise this in the air.
Onboard, you will also benefit from additional comfort since the new sidewalls offer 5 mm extra shoulder clearance at every window seat, as well as 50 mm more foot space – thanks to the re-profiled dado panel at the floor level.
And trust me – that’s space that is noticeable in comfort terms – having more than 18″ shoulder width increases the comfort in economy class (unless someone gets a bright idea and goes for a nine-across economy cabin).
For airlines, there’s something else that will make them a lot happier – weight savings – these sidewalls would save approximately 85 kg throughout the aircraft according to Airbus engineering estimates.
Meanwhile, the new matching ceiling panels are also lighter than the previous design – contributing to an additional 10 kg weight saving throughout the cabin, along with a new door frame lining – again another 5kg.
Whilst not a lot (a passenger’s and a bit worth), that is weight that does not have to be lifted time and again – resulting in the fuel bill being lower over the life of an aircraft.
Interestingly, Airbus is sticking with the shelf-style overhead bins for this A330neo refresh.
And Electro-Dimmable windows
Airbus also showed off an option for the A330neo (and is offered on the A350), which is Gentex’s electro-dimmable windows (EDWs).
These latest generation of EDWs are seamlessly adjustable, darken quickly and can effectively block more than 99.999% of visible light as well as the infra-red energy from the sun.
We’ve seen these roll out initially on the Boeing 787 in the first instance, but they’re popping up on the A350 too.
The idea is you remove the mechanics and the weight of the window blind, whilst having a centrally controlled electrical blind system for the crew. This is great in theory.. until you remind the crew to turn off the EDWs when the aircraft is nearing landing.
In terms of installation, the A330neos’ new sidewall panel will allow easy clip-in replacement or interchangeability between the electro-mechanical shade and the EDW parts.
Small, yet significant changes
It’s always interesting looking back and then looking forward with the changes Airbus are proposing to the A330neo interior design – and for those up front, there’s going to be a lot more room in the cabin – thanks to the hero light.
Meanwhile, airlines will be a lot more interested in the sidewall weight savings – which will add up over time. Whilst transporting one person’s worth of fuel might not mean much on one flight, by the time the aircraft has been in service for many years, that will play a part in the fuel bills – especially when airlines desire to shed weight where possible.
As for the Electro-Dimmable Windows. Lots of people like them as they can dim a window at the touch of a button, and they can be centrally controlled Some people don’t like them as they like to look out of the window during a flight and not see shades of teal.
They’re significant changes to the first aircraft that introduced the Airspace platform, which has gone on to spread across the Airbus family of narrow and wide-body aircraft.
It’s interesting to see experiences learned on other platforms make their way up and down the product stack, with the A330neo demonstrator cabin taking cues from other Airspace implementations.
We’ll have to see which airlines adopt some of these ideas, and how they’re implemented in the real world.
Images, Economy Class and Beyond.
Economy Class and Beyond was a guest of Airbus at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2024.
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The cabin demonstrator itself has 9 abreast seating Ack!
It could be worse. I’ve got a bit coming in the next few days about a proposed 10-across A350 seat.
Prepare to be squished.
10 across already exists in the a350s of some budget carriers.