Tour the Stunning Airplane Cabin Designs of the Future

We can’t deny the value of awards. Whether it’s a 13.5-inch bronze statue plated in 24-karat gold or a certificate on thick parchment, an award legitimizes something. In some cases, it’s a whole industry. When it comes to aviation, the coveted accolade comes in the form of the annual Crystal Cabin Awards, the world’s only awards for aircraft cabin products and concepts. The first one launched at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg in 2007. That year, such products as Airbus’s SPICE (Space Innovative Catering Equipment) system and Lamera AB’s Hybrix material took home the first awards. This year, though, the Crystal Cabin Awards have a more targeted focus: The future. And these innovations are nothing short of fantastic.

The winners won’t actually be announced until June, but the Crystal Cabin Awards just released the shortlist, and though each design, product, and company on the docket boasts varying developments, they all have one element in common: A focus on sustainability. After all, so many massive industries—including housing and automotive—are making big shifts towards a more environmentally-friendly outlook. Aviation, which provides 65.5 million jobs globally and produces $2.7 trillion of the world’s gross domestic product, is no exception. In fact, on the homepage, the Crystal Cabin Awards state, “As the shortlist for the 2022 edition shows, manufacturers, academia, and individuals around the world are continually innovating towards reducing the environmental impact of aviation while offering new solutions to give airlines more flexibility in configuring the aircraft cabin for their customers.”

One such configuration is Teague’s Elevate, a cabin with seemingly floating seats. A collaboration between the Seattle-based company and NORDAM, Elevate features seats and cabin furniture that are connected to sidewalls and aisles, rather than the floor, and give passengers an abundance of space. Collins Aerospace, for its part, is also thinking up ways to rework traditional airplane seats. The aerospace company teamed up with PriestmanGoode and Tangerine to create a sleek new business class offering for Finnair, dubbed AirLounge, that swaps out reclining seats for ones that feel more like a spacious cocoon.

Another interesting entry that seeks to play with cabin reconfiguration is the brainchild of Jiayi Yu, a student from the University of Reutlingen. The idea behind his swiveling Shift Cabin Interior is to reconfigure the formerly fixed seats in multiple unexpected positions, which may allow for more seats and less discomfort for passengers. 

The goal has always been to stylishly maximize the cabin space in existing airplanes. Engineering design company Mmillenniumm has taken that idea to an entirely new level with the double-decker concept AirSleeper, which is exactly what it sounds like: A seat that would offer guests on both the upper and lower level the ability to lay flat. It’s been in the works since 2010.

Comfort is not the only essential element when it comes to flying. For anyone who can’t do double features without getting bored, Lufthansa Technik—an offshoot of Germany’s main airline—has launched Explorer, a private jet with a hidden projector system that transforms the cabin’s ceiling and some of its walls into everything from cityscapes to underwater scenes. It’s like a highly realistic and enticing screensaver for the entire duration of a flight.

And for those who, as of late, tend to spend the whole flight worried about germs, Pexco Aerospace’s AirShield device, a collaboration with design company Teague, should put them at ease. It enhances and improves airflow within a cabin by creating a completely invisible shield around passengers. The shield will minimize the exposure to and spread of particles typically floating around on planes, kind of like a giant mask that envelops the whole seat. It’s a much-welcomed innovation during the COVID-19 era, which has inspired quite a few health-minded designs.

The pandemic, at least the first year or so, took a sharp blow to the travel industry in a way that made major airlines seriously consider what would happen if they couldn’t recover. Luckily, it’s adapted to the vastly different world in such a way that has even the most cautious globe-trotters ready and eager for their next trip. The Crystal Cabin Awards are only making the idea of jet-setting to a new place even more worth it.