The best airline innovations for 2019 have been revealed and they include Emirates’ swish first-class suite, a foldaway seat and Air New Zealand’s secure ‘skycouch’ bed for young children.
A total of 24 ideas are in the running for the prestigious Crystal Cabin Awards, which are dubbed the Oscars of aircraft cabin design.
The finalists in the awards have been announced after they were whittled down from a shortlist of 94 submissions from 18 countries across eight categories.
The Emirates fully-enclosed 777 first-class suite, which has been nominated for the best cabin concept award. The suite is described as having the ‘atmosphere of a private jet’
Airbus received a nod for the best cabin concept, which envisages transforming the cargo deck into sleeping berths for passengers on its A330 aircraft
The categories are cabin concepts; cabin systems; greener cabin, health, safety and environment; in-flight entertainment and connectivity; materials and hardware; passenger comfort hardware; the university award and visionary concepts.
Most travellers will be unsurprised to hear that Emirates’ stunning fully enclosed Boeing 777 first-class suite is in the running for the best cabin concept.
Award judges say the suites, which have previously featured on MailOnline Travel, have the atmosphere of a private jet. They are also impressed with the gadgetry, which includes passenger-to-crew video calls and virtual windows for suites located in the centre of the plane.
Also nominated is Airbus for its lower deck passenger experience module, which envisages sleeping berths in the cargo compartment.
As previously reported on MailOnline Travel, carriers will be able to choose from a range of sleeper compartment configurations in the holds of A330 aircraft by 2020.
Collins Aerospace is up for an award for its Flex Duet self-service counter, pictured, for snacks and drinks. The counter can be opened up like a closet in front of a door to give purpose to otherwise unused space
Airbus earns a nomination in the cabin systems category for its X-Tend seats, which partially fold
The third shortlisted cabin concept is the Saffran essential business class seat, which has 25 per cent less weight than conventional seats with almost 20 per cent more space for the passenger.
In the cabin systems category, the X-Tend seat from Airbus has been shortlisted. With this passengers can give themselves more room for manoeuvre by partially folding down the seat cushion.
Diehl Aviation also gets a nod for its Flexible Passenger Service Unit system.
In the health and safety category, Panasonic is recognised for its nanoe air filtration system, which extracts pungent smells from the cabin
Nominated in the health and safety category is the Skycouch idea from Air New Zealand , which sees an entire row of seats transformed into a bed on demand, with seat belts available for children
United Airlines earns a nod for its ‘Entertainment for All’ system, pictured, which enables passengers to personalise their multimedia experiences
The modules, containing air vents and reading lamps, are not fixed in place above the seats. Instead, they can be re-positioned for optimal passenger convenience.
While Collins Aerospace is nominated for its Flex Duet self-service counter for snacks and drinks.
The counter can be opened up like a closet, folding out in front of the aircraft door to give purpose to otherwise unused space.
In the health and safety category, Panasonic earns a nomination for its nanoe air filtration system.
The system extracts pungent smells from the cabin, improving the air quality.
Also nominated in the health and safety category is the Skycouch idea from Air New Zealand, which sees an entire row of seats transformed into a bed on demand, with seat belts available for children.
United Airlines, meanwhile, impressed the judges with its ‘Entertainment for All’ system, which allows passengers to personalise their multimedia experience.
It’s shortlisted in the in-flight entertainment category along with the Collins Aerospace virtual plane window that Emirates uses.
In the comfort hardware category, one of the nominations goes to Panasonic for its active noise control business class seat, which cancels out unwanted noise and gives passengers the option of playing calming sounds such as birdsong
Seat manufacturer Recaro is nominated for the comfort hardware award for its long haul economy seat that comes with adjustable head and neck support as well as movable back and leg upholstery
French design studio Style & Design has been recognised for its Moments concept, which extends the seating space in business class by offering a range of sofa-like positions for sitting, lying and turning
While in the passenger comfort hardware category, one of the nominations goes to Panasonic for its active noise control business class seat.
The seats filter the cabin and engine background noise at the press of a button and passengers can instead opt to listen to calming music or bird noises.
Another nomination in this category goes to seat manufacturer Recaro for its long haul economy seat that comes with adjustable head and neck support as well as movable back and leg upholstery – which is meant to be like an armchair at home.
While French design studio Style & Design earns the last nod in this category for its Moments concept.
Up for the visionary concepts awards is Aim Altitude for its Ultraflex Zone. This zone features a snack bar, lounge chairs and areas for yoga classes and is open to passengers from every class
This significantly extends the seating space in business class by offering a range of sofa-like positions for sitting, lying and turning.
And up for the visionary concepts award is Aim Altitude for its Ultraflex Zone.
This zone features a snack bar, lounge chairs and areas for yoga classes and is open to passengers from every class.
Trophies will be handed out to the winners in the eight categories at next month’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany.
For the full list of nominations, visit the Crystal Cabins Awards website.