Designing a Memorable Passenger Experience
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Two sessions focused on cabin design and comfort at the APEX Middle East Regional Conference. First to deliver was APEX Board Member Ingo Wuggetzer, vice-president, Cabin Marketing, Airbus on the the subject of “Cabin Comfort, Trends & Vision.”
Comfort in Economy
As comfort is automatically implied with First and Business class cabins, Wuggetzer focused on comfort in Economy, specifically within four areas: lighting, IFE, air quality and seat comfort. At Airbus, affecting passenger comfort comes down to personal space and privacy. In-depth analysis of seat pitch, width and customer feedback revealed that an extra inch in width (18″ versus 17″) goes a long way in terms of comfort perception. “By far, the biggest feedback [we received] was concerning shoulder clearance,” notes Wuggetzer and that extra inch, though small, is a significant difference that is felt immediately by passengers.
Trends & Vision
Wuggetzer outlined four key airline trends that are influencing the cabin design of the future: a diverging passenger landscape, efficient cabin differentiation, ancillary revenue generation and automation & virtual technology. “30 to 40 percent of ancillary revenue is made in context of the cabin,” added Wuggetzer. And taking all these trends into consideration, we’re left with design elements that address the needs of specific passenger segments, new cabin options for passengers (such as Premium Economy), creative ways to optimize revenue and digital platforms that elevate the passenger experience.
With these trends in mind, Airbus imagines the future of flying with a cabin concept for 2050. In their imagined cabin world, class differentiation disappears: “Every customer can pick and choose elements they want to pay for,” says Wuggetzer. Passengers check-in with a simple scan of the hand, aircraft seating adapts to the booking situation and airline seat fabrics are equipped with smart sensors that adjust to passenger physique.
Designing Around Brand Experience
Keeping within the cabin design theme, Peter Tennent, managing director at Factorydesign, took the stage to discuss Factorydesign’s latest aircraft cabin creations and how these designs are creating memorable brand experiences for airline passengers.
“The journey starts with vision and ambition from airline executives,” explains Tennent. For Factorydesign, customer-driven insight is key to the design process and is what Tennent refers to as “Big Talks.” To illustrate, Tennent pointed to their latest collaboration with Etihad Airways, who came to Factorydesign with a vision to “bring the boutique hotel experience to the sky with Arabian modernism.” To achieve this concept, now widely known as Etihad’s The Residence, the design team spent long periods of immersion to create an experience that incorporates the Etihad brand and Arabian culture, accomplished as a joint effort by the Etihad Design Consortium, which also included Honour Branding and Acumen.
With over 1 million hits for The Residence video on YouTube, the comprehensive effort that went into the project has certainly resonated with passengers. Tennent concluded by encouraging authorities to be more flexible and urged airline revenue teams to think creatively. “True innovation on an aircraft cabin is actually quite rare and difficult but every now and then a new idea emerges…and it takes an ambitious and brave airline to achieve this.”