Airlines have a new option for premium cabin seating where a flat bed may be too much to offer. The new Thompson Aero VantageDUO improves on the traditional single-aisle offerings, with similar pitch to traditional recliners but significantly greater levels of comfort, privacy, and personal space.
Andy Morris, VP Commercial for Thompson Aero Seating, sees the product as delivering in a unique segment, “The fast-emerging mid-to- long-range single-aisle market means that passengers want greater comfort and privacy but not necessarily a fully flat seat such as the VantageSOLO.” Where airlines want to improve passenger comfort but not sacrifice density, he continues, “The VantageDUO offers exceptional comfort and a very marketable seating option, with the same number of passengers as traditional business-class seating. The Vantage DUO really is in a class of its own.”
Key to the VantageDUO offering is what the company calls its Immersive Relaxed Position. Based upon the zero-gravity principle, where research into the relationship between posture and pressure has established the most comfortable position possible other than lying flat, the Immersive Relaxed Position reclines more than a traditional business class seat.
Pitched at 41″, Thompson delivers 130 degrees of decline in the VantageDUO, compared to 110 degrees for most competition.
The seat pairs also angle slightly towards out from the center aisle. This design gives the window seat passenger a bit of extra storage. It also helps maximize legroom in the fixed shell seats, while ensuring that a reclining passenger does not encroach on the space of the row behind them.
That also means a tapered foot-well for most rows. This is a design characteristic that proves challenging for seating manufacturers.
Additional features in the VantageDUO include:
- IFE with a 13.3” monitor as standard and options up to 16”
- Power socket, USB, and wireless charging options
- Electronic controls. A number of functional buttons. Touch screen. Headphone jack inputs and headphone hooks, reading light.
- Actuated seat movements between taxi, take-off & landing position and Immersive Relaxed Position
- Seat numbers integrated into the fabric on head wing for a modern and fresh look
- Option for a PED holder
- Coat hook
- Drop-down arm for accessibility. Allows access for wheelchair users
“Our aim was simple,” Morris explains, delivering “[G]reater comfort in the same space, which we have achieved through our many years of experience in design and engineering innovation. The result: no loss of density, no increase in weight, just greater comfort, space, and recline for the passenger.”
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