A hotel in the sky – new concept could change first-class air travel

Seymourpowell has released “First Spaces” – a vision of future first class air travel.

The design is driven by insights from passenger research, which revealed “privacy, discretion, a real sense of personal, ‘unshared’ space and the provision of a faultless experience” as the most desired facets of first class travel.

The design is at concept stage at the moment. Dick Powell, co-founder of Seymourpowell, says: “First Spaces is the product of all of our research, insights and design work and we can’t wait to see how it might shape the future of first class air travel.”

Boutique accommodation

The design concept is based around the idea of rooms – emulating a hotel experience. Passengers can choose between four single rooms and two doubles. Solo travellers wanting to stay in a double room will pay a premium price, whereas couples will be sold a double at a mid-price tier, costing less than two singles.

The rooms will be boutique, with flat beds and large screens. There will be storage space for carry-on luggage, hanging space for clothes, drawers for an amenity kit and small personal belongings, a large table that deploys from the window side and a tablet to control all room functions.

A double room will buy passengers more space, a 42in screen and a bigger, king size bed (70 x 75in).

Prescient service

To tie in with the boutique feel, the service will anticipate the needs of the customers. This will be achieved via a Smart Inflight Service System, which will collect information from a suite of sensors and reference information about each passenger’s preferences throughout the flight.

The First Spaces seat can be pre-configured to suit its passenger, whatever their size, before they board the aircraft. Once configured, the seat’s kinematic movement will automatically maintain its critical dimensions, irrespective of the seat’s position.

Contemporary Luxury

Each room will feature a multi-touch tablet controlling in-flight entertainment. The tablet will also control seat adjustments, lighting, access to IFE, internet, menus and every other aspect of service.

A lobby will be S curved, with horizontally slotted walls designed for light to play on the surfaces. At the rear will be a glazed, transparent gallery, enabling passenger/staff eye contact and inspired by contemporary restaurants where food preparation becomes part of the experience.

The pared-back colour of the rooms will be decorated with soft furnishings, adjusted according to the preferences of the passenger.

The concept is being presented at the Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Expo next month.

Discover more:

• Is this the end for “grid-like” aircraft interior designs?

• How will we fly in the future? Designers make their suggestions