The Crystal Cabin Awards jury has whittled this year’s 94 shortlisted entries down to 24 finalists. The winners for each of the eight categories will be announced on April 2 at a celebrity gala dinner held in Hamburg, Germany, during Aircraft Interiors Expo (held on April 2-4, 2019).
In the Cabin Concepts category, the finalists include Airbus, nominated for its Lower Deck Pax Experience Modules, which envisage converting the space underneath the passenger cabin for use as such things as lounge areas or quiet zones. The other contenders are Emirates’ Boeing 777 first-class fully enclosed suites, which feature virtual windows for those traveling in the middle of the aircraft, and also enable the passenger to video call the crew; and Safran’s Essential Business Class, which uses innovative cushion structures to save 25% weight and give 20% more space to passengers.
The virtual windows used for Emirates’ first class are from Collins Aerospace, and receive their own nomination in the In-flight Entertainment and Connectivity category. Other finalists in this section include Global Eagle for its Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite, and United Airlines for its Entertainment for All system.
The finalists in the Cabin Systems category are Collins Aerospace, with its Flex Duet self-service counter; Airbus with its X-Tend Seat; and Diehl Aviation with its Flexible Passenger Service Unit (FlexPSU), which offer flexible positioning and electrical power.
Diehl Aviation is also a finalist in the Greener Cabin, Health, Safety and Environment category, with its UV-LED Water Disinfection Unit, which uses UVC lighting to provide drinking water on board. The other finalists in this category are Panasonic for its nanoe air filtration system; and Air New Zealand, for a family edition of its economy Skycouch product that turns a seat row into a bed. It has been updated with new belts and safety guards to enable babies and infants to be accommodated.
Collins Aerospace receives its third nomination in the Material & Components category with its µLED Reading Light. Also nominated are Kydex for its Lumina concept – a thermal plastic designed to conduct light; and Safran’s Flexible Door privacy screen.
The finalists in the Passenger Comfort Hardware category are Panasonic with Active Noise Control technology that can be integrated in business-class seats; Recaro with an updated long-haul economy seat; and Style & Design with a long-haul business seat concept called Moments.
In the University category, the nominated concepts are 1 For All, designed by Sahngseok Lee from Korea’s Hongik University in collaboration with Adient; Stratus, a business class seat that can turn into a standing desk, designed by Clément Heinen of the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology, in collaboration with Safran; and the SkyDining app by Joseph Lane from the University of Cincinnati, which enables passengers to order food from an airport restaurant and have it delivered to the gate.
Finally, the Visionary Concepts category finalists are AIM Altitude with its Ultraflex Zone; Paperclip Design with its Peacock Suite, which enables layout flexibility in first class; and Boeing with its Smart Cabin, which enables components to be controlled digitally and by crew using voice commands.
All the winning concepts will be presented at 2:30pm on April 3 in the Cabin Space LIVE Auditorium (on the first floor in Hall B4) at AIX.
