This new concept in seating design utilises the aisle column of seats as a semi-fixed structure attached to its respective row, but not directly to the floor.
First time exhibitor Molon Labe Designs will use Aircraft Interiors Expo – organised by Reed Exhibitions – to present its innovative and unique seating design concept at the Hamburg Messe, Germany from 9 -11 April.
The Slip-Slide seat permits the normal 19” wide aisle to open up to an impressive 43”, offering a number of benefits to both the airline and passengers. The company states that it is the only seat in the industry that provides wider aisles during turnaround, minimising passenger embarkation and disembarkation times and enabling full wheelchair access the length of the cabin.
This new concept in seating design utilises the aisle column of seats as a semi-fixed structure attached to its respective row, but not directly to the floor. The aisle seat moves up and over the middle seat using a single action operation, sliding away from the plane’s central concourse, generating an extra 24” of space to permit passenger access and egress. Before take-off the seat slides back into position and locks in place.
Molon Labe asserts that for an airline there are numerous advantages, especially since the slowest part of an aircrafts turnaround is the loading and unloading of passengers. These include two extra hours of flight time per aircraft and savings on fuel as there is less time on the ground powering essential services while passenger’s access and egress. The company states that the seat pays for itself in two years through the fuel saving element alone.
A stalwart of Aircraft Interiors Expo, Thales will use the exhibition to present its Eyetracking and Gesture Control system. The IFE system is controlled via a combination of the passenger’s eye movements and hand motions, allowing them to navigate through the seat display menu options and select their entertainment preferences. Developed for premium passengers, the system is used in a far reach seat configuration often called a pod seat. The use of Eyetracking and Hand Gesture Control technologies creates an MMI (Man-Machine Interface) whereby the Field-of-View between the passenger’s eyes and hands is all within the same visual plane of the seat display, eliminating the need to constantly look down at a remote control to make a selection. This product is a finalist in the “Passenger Comfort Systems” category at the annual Crystal Cabin Awards 2013.
Inflight internet specialist Gogo will soon be offering a new product that will allow passengers to send text messages from any Gogo equipped commercial aircraft. Called Gogo Text & Voice, it uses Gogo’s Wi-Fi system and will be available without picocells. Gogo expects Text & Voice to be the first solution in the market to leverage an in-air
Wi-Fi system to allow airline passengers to send and receive texts in real-time using their own mobile phone number while flying at 30,000 ft and in excess of 500 miles per hour.
Row 44 will be exhibiting the industry’s first full-scale platform for in-flight entertainment and connectivity. The company’s Ku-band satellite technology is unique in its ability to deliver live television direct to passengers’ personal mobile devices throughout an entire fleet of aircraft at a consistent quality and cost-effective rate. This service can be made available to passengers as a separate Wi-Fi offering, regardless of whether or not a passenger chooses to pay for internet access. It offers 1.8 terabyte of video-on-demand service which enables unprecedented choice for the customer. The service allows airline partners of Row 44 to impress their customers with a new entertainment product offering opportunities to garner incremental revenues. Row 44 also permits airlines to retain control of the branding of the services and portal in order to maintain brand continuity. Row 44 is a finalist in the Passenger Comfort Systems category of the Crystal Cabin Awards.
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