Nobody enjoys long-haul plane journeys. They're cramped, noisy, either too hot or too cold, and it's almost impossible to get comfortable, even in first class. All this could very well change in the near future, however, if Seymourpowell has anything to say on the matter. The innovation, design and brand consultancy recently released their vision of what the future of first class air travel could look like, and it's like looking at a first class hotel in the sky.
The “First Spaces” designs have been driven by insights from passenger research, which revealed that privacy, discretion, a sense of personal space were the most desired facets of first class travel. These insights were used to create the design concept, which is based around the idea of rooms, emulating a hotel experience.
The idea is that passengers can choose between four single rooms and two doubles. Solo travellers wanting to stay in a double room will pay a premium price, whilst couples will be sold a double at a mid-price tier, costing less than two singles. The rooms will be boutique, with flat beds and large screens, with extra storage space for carry-on luggage, hanging space for clothes, drawers for an amenity kit and small personal belongings, a large table that deploys from the window side and a tablet to control all room functions.
A double room will buy passengers even more space, with a 42 inch screen and a bigger, king size bed. The subtle colour of the rooms will be decorated with soft furnishings, adjusted according to the preferences of each passenger.
“First Spaces is the product of all of our research, insights and design work and we can’t wait to see how it might shape the future of first class air travel” Dick Powell, Co-Founder of Seymourpowell
To tie in with the boutique feel, the service will anticipate the needs of the customers via a Smart Inflight Service System, which will collect information from a suite of sensors and reference information about each passenger’s preferences throughout the flight. The First Spaces seat can be pre-configured to suit its passenger, whatever their size, before they board the aircraft.
Once configured, the seat’s movement will automatically maintain its critical dimensions, irrespective of it's position. Each room will also feature a multi-touch tablet controlling in-flight entertainment. The tablet will also control seat adjustments, lighting, access to IFE, internet, menus and every other aspect of service.
The plane will also feature a luxury, S shaped curved lobby, with horizontally slotted walls designed for light to play on the surfaces. At the rear will be a glazed, transparent gallery, enabling passenger/staff eye contact and inspired by contemporary restaurants where food preparation becomes part of the experience. The design is only at the concept stage currently, but to us it looks ready to go. It's being presented at the Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Expo next month, so we can only hope that one of the major airlines picks it up.
