Recaro Aircraft Seating has unveiled two new seats and two seat concepts at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.
Both the new seats – the Smart Line 3510 (pictured left) and the Comfort Line 3620 have been nominated for this year’s Crystal Cabin Awards. The Smart Line 3510 is a short-range economy class seat that weighs about 9kg per pax, with an aluminium frame covered with a netting material that adapts to the contour of the passenger’s spinal column. Meanwhile, Recaro’s new single-beam seat, Comfort Line 3620 is an ultra-long-range economy-class seat, and successor to the CL3610. “The CL3620 is more comfortable and weighs less than the CL3610,” said Axel Kahsnitz, CEO of Recaro Aircraft Seating.
Recaro has also unveiled two new concept seats – ‘Stingray’ and ‘Phantom’. Stingray (pictured right) is an economy-class concept seat weighing less than 6kg. “In terms of looks and comfort, the Recaro ‘Stingray’ seat concept is similar to our new Smart Line 3510 seat,” said Recaro Kahsnitz. “We took things a step further with our seat prototype and maximised weight reduction to show what is possible in an aircraft interior.” The seat structure was reconfigured using the latest analysis techniques. At the same time, a new aluminium alloy was implemented along with titanium and additional CFRP materials. “Although the Stingray is a prototype, it is very realistic. We conducted simulation tests to verify the weight reduction. This seat could feasibly be built and certified,” said Kahsnitz.
The Phantom prototype (pictured left) is a business-class seat concept based on the Comfort Line 6510 seat. A touch of a button on the remote control handset transforms the ergonomically formed seat into a flat bed approximately 2m long. The design of the privacy shell ensures the seat position can be changed without disturbing surrounding passengers. The seat features various pre-programmed adjustment settings for seat cushion height and backrest angle. It can also be adjusted to any other sitting or sleeping position with seat memory settings. The Phantom prototype also includes a concept for positioning the seats in the cabin. Instead of being placed side by side, the seats are arranged in a staggered pattern facing the front of the aircraft. Recaro says the space gained by staggering the seat positions and reducing the seat width makes it possible, for example, to install seven-across seat configurations in a Boeing 787 instead of the usual six-across arrangement.