INTERIORS: SEATING Deliveries of the Comoda for the A320 fleet of South African Airways also continue to roll out. By the end of 2016, the Comoda will be installed on 16 of the airline’s A320s. South African has also selected Geven’s Piuma seat for its economy class. Geven has been selling aircraft seating since the mid-1990s, and its products are now flying with airlines on five continents. The company is in the product catalog for Airbus and ATR as well as the Alenia Superjet 100. In the next year, Baldascino said the company would be launching a new economy class seat that will debut at next year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. In Seattle, visitors will see an improved version of its Piuma economy class seat. The new Piuma Evo is a lighter version of the original that Geven designed to meet the needs of low cost carriers in high-density routes. The company has incorporated composite and aluminum components into the design of the Piuma Evo.
Looking toward Asia Recaro Aircraft Seating GmbH has been taking the initiative to expand its production facilities for the past several years. After plant expansions in Poland, Germany and South Africa in 2012, the company more than doubled the size of its Dallas/ Fort Worth plant to 23,000 square meters. Toward the end of last year, Recaro opened a new green field manufacturing plant in Qingdao, China just 10 months after breaking ground. Recaro has opened a sales office in Dubai and invested €3 million (US$3.8 million) in the company’s site in Schwaebisch Hall, Germany to manufacture components for greater flexibility and speed. Speed is important in an industry that is known for long lead times between order and delivery. Demand is no greater than among the Asian airlines keen to expand. “We are negotiating projects with more than 20 airlines in China,” said Dr. Mark Hiller, Chief Executive Officer of Recaro Seating. “Beyond the Chinese market, a number of customers in the Asia-Pacific region have expressed a strong interest in our products.” The Qingdao plant currently produces the company’s BL3520 economy class seat. Production of the seat has been primarily for Shandong Airlines with approximately 3,400 units bound for its fleet of 21 737s. Hiller says Recaro plans to gradually adapt the plant to offer the complete Recaro
product portfolio from the Qingdao plant to the Asian market. Like most of its competitors, the retrofit market will be an important one going forward. Airbus and Boeing are both offering derivatives of existing aircraft, such as the A320NEO and the 737 Max. “The airline customers are pushing for new seating products for these new aircraft, which will then also be reviewed and partially requested for the remaining and existing fleet,” said Hiller. “The reasoning is different, but one main reason is to have product commonality throughout all cabins.” The low-cost carrier customers could also be in the market for other products in the Recaro line. Four years ago, Air France purchased the company’s SL3510 for its domestic fleet of A319s, A320s and A321s. Since then, easyJet has also selected the seat, which sits passengers in what Hiller called a “pre-defined recline” of 15 degrees. Recaro has incorporated a number of features in the SL3510 designed for optimum comfort for short periods. The seat’s aluminum frame is covered with netting that adapts to a passenger’s spinal column. Recaro has also modified the headrests and manufactured a super-slim contour into the design for passengers to have more living space and shin clearance. “Our ergonomic specialists are investigating ingenious design solutions to improve the benefits for economy class passengers,” said Hiller. “As we not only design economy class seats but also business class seats, we will be able to intensively use synergy effects.”
Beauty in simplicity As general manager of product development at the launch of Virgin Atlantic Airways, Chris Brady spent years immersed in elements of the airline’s service product. In the early days, Brady was responsible for products that touched the passenger, from blankets and pillows, all the way through to seats, entertainment, premium class bars and drive-through check-in. In the 10 years he worked for the airline he spent a lot of time looking at seating. Now, as one of the founders of Acro Aircraft Seating, Brady takes a distinctively philosophical approach that unites form and function in the passenger space. “We believe that as far as seats are concerned, less is more and comfort is actually the absence of discomfort, and the most comfortable position is the next one,” he declares.
The SL3510 seat from Recaro, which is in use on easyJet
When an A319 from Spirit Airlines or another low-cost carrier is outfitted with one of the company’s Superlight Fixed, Ultra Fixed or Ultra recline, the pitch may be roughly the same as it is on legacy airlines such as American. However, a significant difference is the thin profile of the Acro seats and the way the product is manufactured, not just for less weight, but also for comfort, sturdiness and ease of maintenance and quick delivery. The backrest of the Acro seat is a thin composite molding that flattens out across the shoulders and is constructed at enough of an angle to allow the passengers to recline slightly and receive lumbar support. Though the seat may only have half an inch of padding, elements within the construction give passengers a comfortable spot for a short trip. “I hope sense will prevail, and we will all go to fixed back seats for short haul,” Brady said. Brady sees parallels in the design of Acro seats similar to fine office furniture, such as the iconic Eames chair and molded plastic furniture often found in schools. While simple in design, they complete a function with few parts and little duplication and layering. The philosophy appears to have paid off. In addition to SpiritAirlines, Acro has found 20 or so other customers including Thomas Cook and KLM CityHopper, and demand for products is pushing the plant near Gatwick Airport to a capacity of 24,000 seats per year. In the next nine months, Brady said Acro would outfit more than 70 aircraft to four new U.S. customers. www.pax-intl.com | PAX INTERNATIONAL | 25