Page 30 - AAA MARCH-APRIL 2012 Online Magazine

FEATURE INTERIORS

Airbus 350 XWB offers
significant comfort in
a two aisle format that
gives faster loading as
well as a feeling of space
cooling requirements, he says. “Both densities for different aircraft types
extremes must be addressed in an and routes. Crucially, optimum cabin
adaptable and thoughtful interior design.” design is one that generates the most
All of which means yet more cunning airline revenue over the long term. It
design in the area of luggage stowage. also needs to be, as Boeing’s Wilcynski
ATR has expanded its overhead bins by says, “an adaptable environment
10%, enabling up to 70% of passengers (with) systems that allow our airline
to take a standard suitcase into the cabin, customers to customise and brand the
notes Tiefenbach. “Also, the doors of the travel experience for their customers.”
overhead bins slide behind the bin when Next time you sit back and clip in,
open,” he says. This design both gives more consider the amount of time and effort that
room for passengers to slide cases into the went into designing your environment.
bin, and avoids a lowered bin “interrupting” And thank all those designers.
the light and space in the aisle. “These are
all factors contributing to further enhance
passenger comfort, even at high load factors
and maximised passenger configurations,”
adds Tiefenbach.
To sum up, making a great travel
experience in the cabin depends on light,
space, volume, practicality, comfort and
cost. And of course safety. As Hrnkova
says, any cabin interior has to be
compliant with stringent and complex Sit Down than specific set limits of G-force.
safety and certification requirements. Airline seats are certified to FAA But this can be up to 16G – about
These are mandatory. “But in the past, a airworthiness standards which require 50% more than an aerobatic pilot
greater focus was placed on functionality any seat to withstand specified loads, endures. Then there is a test for the
rather than aesthetics or ergonomics,” with and without a dummy passenger. dummy head hitting the seat in front
she adds. And that made for functional They are tested by mounting them on and how much pressure there is on
cabins, not great places to spend a few a sled and crashing them into a solid the dummy spine. Even then there
wall at a set velocity and deceleration.
hours as you cross continents. The seat must withstand the load, is more – the seat is deformed, or
Today, optimum cabin design varies and the dummy must not suffer more buckled, then tested for the same
things. Sit easy.
substantially, and is reflected in a
wide range of products and seating
30 ASIAN AIRLINES & AIRPORTS MARCH / APRIL 2012 WWW.ASIANAIRLINES-AIRPORTS.COM