MILE HIGH PLEASURES
LEADING INTERNATIONAL AVIATION PLAYERS RELY ON SMART DESIGN FOR OVERALL PASSENGER EXPERIENCE. A LOOK AT SOME OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE INFLIGHT CABINS FLYING TO INDIA.
While, in post-Covid times, the most essential travel dialogue has been around the freedom to actually fly, a more noteworthy ‘design’ conversation hovers around international aviation and how first and business class seats can incorporate smart design to enhance the ‘paxex’ — passenger experience—in aviation parlance. Given that airplane cabins are now expected to be as functional and comfortable as possible, it is no surprise that entire design firms are hired by large airlines to ‘design’ the hard product. “Today, it is no longer about a comfortable seat that transforms into a bed. There are lights, ambience, feel of the armrest, tech panels and even the hues that define the interiors that ultimately play a huge part in the overall experience. These, not only help make the flight as fatigue-free as possible, but elements of smart design can also make the flight healthier, combat jet lag and promote overall wellbeing,” says aviation commentator and frequent flyer, Sanjeev Mehta.
Seat of Power
Long-haul behemoth Emirates made big news by announcing its novel Boeing 777 First Class product, a couple of years ago. Read on: The middle seat (in this case, a private enclosed cabin with floor to ceiling doors) is designed to give the middle-seat passenger the impression of being in a window seat by a specially designed window in the cabin wall, with high-resolution camera images being displayed on this fake window. Talk about perception outsmarting reality. As a result, the first class passenger, in the middle, with no actual access to a window, can watch an entire take-off or landing. Here, smart design and technology have merged to create a truly luxurious product in the skies “The interiors of this game-changing First Class cabin stand distinct with a whole new palette of colours, featuring soft greys, cream and champagne, to deliver an open and airy feel,” says Mohammad Sarhan, VP, India & Nepal, Emirates. This is a big move from an airline whose boast includes creating the world’s first ‘enclosed’ suite for First Class.
Not quite Business as usual
In the very same vein, Studio F. A. Porsche designed Cathay Pacific’s widely awarded Business Class seats to reflect the business travel ethos of the airline. According to Cathay, the design studio added little touches like sculpted seat wings for increased privacy, in its reverse herringbone layout. Other elements that make it extremely viable for business travel are the window facing outboard seats for a greater view, a large cocktail table, an additional working surface, as well as a seat that tracks forward so that you can interact with your companions. “When developing our inflight experience, we take an insight-led approach to design the overall cabin environment. Little touches like intelligent lighting, privacy partitions, expansive tables and well-placed power sockets, make this a very design-forward product in the skies,” adds a Cathay Pacific spokesperson.
Privacy Rules
One of the key areas of interest, aviation design specialists keep in mind is creating a sense of privacy within a seat space. We got chatting with Istanbul-based Turkish Airlines’ Chief Marketing Officer, Ahmet Olmustur, who reiterated that design accents in new cabins are constantly raising the bar for creating that ‘cocoon’ in the skies, while responding to the recent demand for social distancing, personal space and isolation, despite the near-end of the pandemic. “Adjustable privacy panels in seats are a key feature today, giving passengers the notion of more private space,” adds Olmustur.
Closer home, Deepak Rajawat, Chief Commercial Officer, of Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture Vistara, informed us that for his airline, design meant creating a Business Class cabin “to reflect an exclusive, private club, with its colours, textures and mood lighting.” Interestingly, Vistara is India’s first and only airline to offer a fully-flat bed format in Business Class on a narrow-body aircraft—the A321neo. The cabin of this aircraft, used on short and medium haul flights is designed to optimise space to accommodate these flat-bed format seats. Flat beds on narrow body aircrafts is a global aviation design trend that has provoked endless debate among aviation enthusiasts. It is here that cabin designers have had to utilise their skill to make an otherwise cramped aircraft appear more spacious and luxurious than usual. Expanse is the ultimate luxury, especially in the skies.
Clearly, the straight and narrow is not where aviation design is headed going forward. As aviation cabin design specialists assume more significant roles, you can expect constant reinvention of seat design and technology, and also ancillary elements such as lights, air circulation, and music. The fact remains that every armrest you place your elbow on; every footrest that you raise at cruising altitude as also every nook and cranny into which you fit your mobile and laptop, has been a long drawn and painstaking process before finally appearing as your on-board travel companions. They don’t call them flights of fancy for nothing.