Business class seating is a big deal for airlines, with a constant amenities arms race that today focuses on plush beds, direct aisle access, and mini-suite doors for privacy. But there is another, less talked about, segment in the market where the flat bed is key; luxurious accoutrements be damned.
Looking into the future via the lens that is the Crystal Cabin Awards, two specific developments in this more basic business class category deserve some attention.
Another performance for Opera
The Opera line from Stelia, an Airbus subsidiary, delivers on all the typical considerations with a product targeting the single-aisle market. Passengers get a lie-flat bed, along with direct aisle access. An optional door separates travelers from the aisle. Stowage and other premium features abound.
Opera Essential extends the Opera family, stripping out many of those components. It is, in many ways, the epitome of a basic business class offering.
The cubby on the outboard side of the cabin is gone. So are the provisions for a privacy door.
A large shelf with a tablet holder slot sits where the 20″ screen would fly on the higher end version of the seat.
Read more: Finnair long-haul revamp: New business class and premium economy cabins on offer
Adjustments are made manually – described by the company as “an entirely autonomous seat responsive to the passenger’s movements” – rather than with electronic controls.
Opera Essential significantly reduces the weight compared to the higher end version, while maintaining what Stelia’s describes as commitment “to the principles of sustainable aviation, thereby playing a significant role in fostering a more environmentally responsible future for the industry.”
Rethinking the C-Suite
Another, more conceptual design, comes from Airbus and its Airspace Sustainability Vision 2035+ program in the form of the C-Suite business class seating concept. The company pitches it as “improving the environmental footprint of the cabin without compromising on comfort.”
The efficiencies come through a more modular seat structure design, reducing weight and maintenance complexity. The concept also brings about “layout efficiency” with what looks like technically a direct aisle access concept, but also which maybe is not.
Seats are rendered in a cluster of three outboard of the aisle. The middle and aisle seats are what one would traditionally consider direct aisle access. The window seat, however, likely would not have a true flat bed layout which is uninterrupted by the middle seat passenger.
The images are just renderings, so it is possible the middle seat bed is created with a leg rest that flips down from the sides of its access “hall” meaning it does not block access to the window seat.
Either way, Airbus mostly focuses on introduction of new materials for weight reduction and long-term viability of the components rather than details of the floorplan.
Finalists for the 2024 Crystal Cabin Awards will be announced at the end of April 2024. Winners will be announced the following month, at the gala dinner ceremony in Hamburg on 28 May 2024.
More news from the 2024 Crystal Cabin Awards
- Back to basics: New business class seat designs vie for Crystal Cabin Award honors
- Upstarts get creative in economy class for 2024 Crystal Cabin Awards
- In search of sleep: innovation targets snoozers for 2024 Crystal Cabin Award
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