Looking at the Winners of the Crystal Cabin Award More Pleasure, More Business In this divided trip report Part Two Onto Business Part One - The Pleasure Part Two - The Business British Airways Galleries South Lounge BA962 London Heathrow to Hamburg – Club Europe IBIS Budget St Pauli Crystal Cabin Awards Roundup Aircraft Interiors Expo … [Read more...]
Examining ViaSat’s Ka/Ku new antenna launch, and the setup of ViaSat-3 network
Choosing a satellite communication system to go from the plane to a satellite and back to the ground can be a tough choice, with airlines carefully considering the capacity problem that Ku could bring in the future (but giving them access to connectivity), whilst hanging on for Ka communication range for tomorrow. The trouble is, by doing nothing and sticking with some (or … [Read more...]
The Butterfly Seat – Examining the Advancements
The Butterfly Seat has been a concept that has been going around the past few years - with the ability for a pair of seats to act as three things: A premium Economy seat, seating two people A business class seat, seating one person A business class bed Butterfly Seat concept shown at the Airbus booth, 2017 There were previous demonstrations of it at Airbus … [Read more...]
Stelia Aerospace Celeste – advancing onwards
We've come to the point of the Aircraft Interiors Expo coverage where I talk about my favourite short-haul business seat - The Stelia AerospaceCeleste. And again airlines, I have a singular message to you. Buy it. The seat is offerable on the A320 family - allowing airlines to deliver a cradle-comfort style comfort into the business cabin - with both a manual version … [Read more...]
Octoaspring – Bringing a new form of comfort to the cabin
One of the core components of an aircraft seat is the foams and meshes that make the base and back of a seat is the foams that you sit on. And you would think foam is a pretty simple thing. However, Octaspring Technology begs to differ - with foam that moves in a 3D space, whilst reducing the volume by 50% - and thus reducing weight to the seat. Octasprings Foam … [Read more...]
Avio Interiors Skyrider 2.0 – What realistic chance does it have?
I've been trying to find the right words to write this article since Aircraft Interiors Expo, and trust me - it’s a struggle, least of all balancing the promises with that saddle seat with the possible moans and complaints it could generate... Why? Part of me says "I can't see it working". But I spent some time with Avio Interiors and took a look at their updated … [Read more...]
Eithad new short-medium economy seat – Examining the Acro Series 6
With much fanfare earlier this week, Etihad launched their new A320/A321 short-haul product. I'm taking a deeper look at the seat they've chosen - the Acro Series 6 The Acro Series 6 Economy Class Seat for Etihad Airways - Image Acro Aircraft Seating/Etihad The Acro Series 6 Seat (Rear) for Etihad Airways. Note the PED Holder - Image Acro Aircraft … [Read more...]
The Airbus underbelly passenger modules – More promise, but where are the orders?
At the Crystal Cabin Awards, Airbus and Safran won the award for Cabin Concepts Award for its Lower Deck Passenger Experience Modules. I covered this in a bit of depth last year at Aircraft Interiors Expo when this launched. In the meantime, both Airbus and Safran have been doing some of the commercial work to make this concept fly. The Demo … [Read more...]
3D printing in the cabin – examining possibilities with Stratasys
Replacement parts of an aircraft cabin can be expensive. They can get even more expensive when you're needing only a few of them or a very customised component to the cabin. This is where a technology like 3D printing can help and in the example we're going to look at - additive based printing. Stratasys F900 3D printer The idea behind additive based printing is … [Read more...]
Stella Aerospace’s Elysium – redefining Equinox 2D
Stelia Aerospace has been busy in the background this year, launching a new seat with Air France this year - the Elysium. Stelia Aerospace Elysim - Image, Economy Class and Beyond The seat launched as part of the Airbus A330 refresh that Air France announced earlier this year. The seat is currently rated for the A330 family, as well as the A320 family … [Read more...]