Seat Innovations

Every time I settle into a coach class seat on a long-haul flight, I think to myself, “There’s got to be a better way.” Luckily, I am not alone. Every year, airplane designers come up with new seat solutions for airplanes. Those who get to fly in first class can be very comfortable in their flat-bed seats or even private suites. However, some airlines manage to do something fresh in the back of the cabin. With that in mind, I welcomed Lufthansa's recent introduction of the Sleeper row in economy.

Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting seat innovations in Economy, Premium, Business and First Class cabins. 

Air New Zealand’s Skycouch

Air New Zealand’s Economy Skycouch is a row of three seats in the economy cabin that turn into a couch without the armrests on Boeing 777 and 787-9 aircrafts. Lifting special footrests will allow you to create a large couch space. You can buy this product during the booking or upgrade your ticket after the purchase. There is no exact price for this service: it depends on the travel route. It is normally about 50 percent more than a regular coach seat when purchased by 2 people traveling together

This product may be particularly popular for families with small children. Depending on the number of passengers you may get one Skycouch, one Skycouch + additional seat or two Skycouches. If you travel with an infant, you will have an infant pod (a sleeping space to keep baby secure.). Travelling solo you will get an entire row just for you. 

The Skycouch seats don't give you any amenities on the ground. You will get everything that an Economy cabin offers.

Images from Air New Zealand 

Lufthansa Sleeper’s Row 

This is a new Lufthansa product. The Sleeper’s Row is available on long-haul flights with a flight duration of 11 hours or more (to Singapore, Los Angeles, and São Paulo). You will get a whole row of three or four seats in the Economy cabin. In addition, Sleeper's Row gives you priority boarding, a thin mattress, a blanket and a pillow from Business class. 

Please note that Lufthansa doesn’t allow Sleeper’s Row advance reservations. You can book it during check-in or at the gate. A maximum of three Sleeper’s Rows are available on each flight. The price ranges between EUR 159 and 229 (USD 190-270) per leg.

Image from Lufthansa

Air New Zealand’s Premium Economy 

Air New Zealand’s Premium Economy was named Best Premium Economy cabin in 2019 by TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice Awards for airlines. This cabin is available on all Boeing 777-200/300 and 787-9 long-haul flights. The seats have a 104.1 cm pitch, a 22.9 cm recline and a width of 49 cm.

Image from Air New Zealand 

Travelling in Premium Economy you will get a free standard seat selection, two carry-on and checked bags, a complimentary meal, drinks, and more personal space. 

Air New Zealand has been a leader in trying to make economy class more comfortable. Air New Zealand’s premium economy class has been considered one of the best since 2011 when the airline unveiled a revolutionary Premium economy cabin called Spaceseats. It was an innovative service with an angled 2-2-2 configuration. Air New Zealand has received many accolades for this innovation, but at the same time they were criticized for a lack of legroom. 

In response, in 2016, the airline switched to a new type of seat, which is still used today. This allowed them to increase the capacity of the Premium economy class from 44 to 54 seats. If you had a chance to fly in these Spaceseats then you are one of the lucky ones.

Image from Air New Zealand 

Qatar Airways Qsuite 

Qatar Airways has one of the best and most innovative business class seats and service in the world. Their Qsuite product was one of the first suites in business class. It was recognized as the World’s Best Business Class by the 2019 Skytrax World Airline Awards. 

Qatar Qsuite is available on long-haul flights operated by select Boeing 777-200 or 777-300 and Airbus A350-900 and A350-1000. You can always check seat configurations via the SeatGuru service.

Image from Qatar Airways 

Each Qsuite has fully lie-flat beds with doors. The seat is 21.5 inches wide and reclines to 79 inches long. If you travel as a couple or with family, movable panels will allow you to transform your suites into one space for all. 

You can choose a Qsuite business class seat during your booking or later through the Manage Booking option. If they are not available, try calling the airline. Sometimes they can confirm them to you over the phone.

Image from Qatar Airways 

Etihad’s Apartment 

Etihad’s Apartment is First class on long-haul flights operated by Airbus A380 and B787.

First class includes 9 apartments plus one called “The Residence”. Each apartment has a fully lie-flat single seat. The Residence is a three-room suite with butler service, living room, and bathroom.

When you fly First class, you will get an Etihad Chauffeur to drive you to the airport, enjoy priority check-in, have access to First Lounge, and other amenities.

Etihad’s Apartment with The Residence is a unique product. However, it appears that Etihad A380s aircrafts are being retired or sent for long-term storage. All ten A380s have not operated commercial flights since March 2021.

Image from Etihad

Emirates First class 

The Emirates product is considered among the best in the world. First class is available on long-haul flights operated by Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircrafts. The Emirates has one of the most innovative travel cabins in the industry. Enjoy excellent service, exclusive food and beverages, a chauffeured drive, virtual windows, private suites, and more on Emirates flights.

One of the most innovative First-class features is the onboard shower spa. It is available on Airbus A380 aircrafts only. Of course, you can take a shower only once per flight and for no more than 5 minutes, but still, this is next-level experience in the aviation industry. 

Image from Emirates

The next amazing thing on board the Airbus A380 is The Lounge, which includes seating areas and a horseshoe bar. This Lounge serves First and Business class passengers.

Image from Emirates

Lounge bars are not a new service for passengers. They have become popular on flights since the 1970s. The airlines turned their Boeing 747 upper decks into lounges, where passengers could enjoy a drink and socialize with each other.

Image from Airliners.net

Crew rest room on transatlantic flights 

Have you ever wondered what the crew do when the lights are out? Most long-haul flights have more than 15 flight attendants who work in shifts so others may have a rest.

Few people know this, but most aircrafts have crew restrooms on a second level above the passenger seats. The pilot’s room is usually located at the front of the plane near the cockpit. 

The space looks very comfortable for resting and we hope one day a cabin of similar configuration could be made available to passengers as well.

Image from Airbus

Over the years airlines have tried a number of different cabin configurations. Some were not entirely successful, and some are still in use today. We are all used to the usual forward-facing seats, but back in the 2000s Southwest Airlines had a row of rear-facing seats in the center of the Economy cabin on Boeing 737 (see photo below). This configuration does not look comfortable (unless you are a company of 6 people and are looking to be social). 

Interestingly, air crash investigators have found that rear-facing seats are safer for the passengers than forward-facing. This is due to how the body's energy is distributed in an air crash - along the seat back or seat belt, which cuts into a passenger looking forward.

Today, this configuration is used only in the Business class of British Airways, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Qatar Airways. It is no longer offered in economy cabins.

Image from Southwest

Future seat innovations 

Engineers continue to come up with new ideas: dual economy level cabins and cloud capsules are just some of the recent concepts.

One of the recent ideas from the Crystal Cabin Awards was the Chaise Longue Economy Seat Project, which offers a dual-level seat cabin. This design is created by a 21-year-old student named Alejandro Núñez Vicente. Each row in this project alternates between floor level seating and seats raised a few feet above ground. This greatly improves the legroom while efficiently using the space to keep the same number of seats and hence keeping the costs down.

Image from Crystal Cabin Award

The cloud capsule designed by Toyota Boshoku Corporation is also worth a look. The idea is that you can get an area above economy seats to sleep during the flight. This capsule will be offered as an additional service on long-haul flights. Toyota Boshoku calls this innovation "a multi-purpose room that matches the experience of a business class seat."

Image from Crystal Cabin Award

Another interesting innovation is Air Lair Cocoon, designed by Factorydesign. It is a personal cocoon for Premium-economy or Business class which has a double-decker configuration allowing to gain 30 percent more personal space for each passenger without having to reduce the number of the seats in the cabin.

Image from Factorydesign

Adapting to flying during the COVID-19 pandemic has posed new challenges to passenger cabin designers. Airlines have to keep social distancing while also keeping the costs down.

Factorydesign, the London-based company has developed a new seat configuration project with a screen instead of a middle seat (see photo below). This configuration will give more private space during the flight. The screen is removable so that airlines can open up the middle seats when the coronavirus pandemic is over. This seating arrangement will be of great importance on short and medium flights.

Image from Factorydesign

Another Italian company called Aviointeriors has developed two interesting layouts of cabin designs for travel during Coronavirus - a backward-facing middle seat (Janus Seat) and a transparent shield on the seat (Glassafe).

Images from Aviointeriors

The in-cabin experience in premium classes have improved dramatically over the past 3 decades but the economy class experience has largely remained the same. We hope that the search for new solutions for passenger comfort continues and we are looking for fresh and innovative new solutions to improve the inflight experience for all passengers.