The French airplane producer Airbus has presented special module cabins, which can be easily shifted to modify the airplane with a totally different interior. Parts like bar, restaurant, sleeping-rooms, spa and even a playground can be introduced. It is all to increase the income of airlines.
Among few patents presented by airlines this year by Airbus and Boeing, this project has the highest chances to success and get introduced. Airbus Transpose are exchangeable cabin modules which can be easily adapted to the needs of the particular airline. In case for example a long flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt in the business class the airline can install special cabins with beds and an exclusive bar. In case of a flight to India, where we find more economic class passengers the module can be shifted to extra seat rows.
The modules are created in that way to be easily moved from place to place, the installation process is going to be similar to that in cargo airplanes. The specific details about this process are unknown yet.
The prototype of the cabine module created by Airbus is named “Transpose”. The French declare that the greatest advantage is the time – depending on the interior the plane can be modified within few minutes up to few hours. Also the elasticity is important – when the airline orders a bar today it is going to be fixed immediately not depending on the route the plane is going to fly.
“Airlines install for example showers in business class. Yeah that’s great but this module has to be fixed for minimum 7 to 10 years. Our project gives the airlines the possibility to test the service – if something fits them they get it. If not then you can exchange it and look for another solution – said Jason Chua, project manager at A3.
According to Airbus’ concept in a wide-body aircraft 10 to 15 moveable modules can be introduced.
Nevertheless the path from the idea to the realisation is going to be quite long. The project team assumes that it will take 2 to 4 years to create the prototype.
“We decided to show our project now, because we would like to find out what kind of facilities do passengers need on the airplane – adds Chua”
There is just lasts the question if the airlines will be interested in that kind of project. Finally as Airbus launched the Model A380, where a casino, restaurant and gym should be introduced, the airlines rejected because they were just interested in a huge amount of seats to bring in as many passengers as possible.
What is your opinion? Is this a good solution for both the passengers and for the airlines?
Sources:
https://www.wired.com/2016/12/airbus-new-jet-concept-features-swappable-spas-cafes/#slide-x
https://skift.com/2016/12/13/airbus-wants-airlines-to-radically-rethink-the-passenger-experience/
http://www.travelandleisure.com/culture-design/a3-modular-aircraft-cabin
Brilliant idea and in my opinion modular products will be the future. Think about project ARA by Google even if it has been sold to another company. This is only one example.
About your question, I can only answer “It depends”. It depends on the company that sells, on its marketing ability, on the airlines and their marketing ability, etc. It depends on all of this because the idea is good but you should see how it is implemented and how it is perceived by the consumers.
In my opinion it is a good idea because in this way you can transform more and more the “simple transport service” in “living an experience”, so consumers gain more confort, more ways to spend their time on long flights, etc.
About the airlines side, they can improve the quality of their service but they could risk to increase flight prices. Then, how long does the change of modules require? Because if they need a long time to change them, the company risks to decrease the number of daily flights.
In the end, as I said at the beginning, it depends, but the idea is very good, it is like an aircraft “made by LEGO”, so if you don’t need or you don’t like a part you can simply change it or better, you don’t need to keep or sell the aircraft and to buy a new one.
The idea itself is fascinating and aims entirely rebuild the consumer experience during the flight. It is recalled me the forecasts that have been made towards the software programs – more and more of them will be created so that they will be easy to integrate with each other, modify and build like a constructor. Here is the similar approach. Regarding passengers, I think it can be perceived not just like more fun travel, but also as an attempt to generate such environments that can reduce the possible stress and anxiety that some people may experience during the flight. At the same time, difficult not to think about to what extent these changes will affect the price formation, will the new solution have an impact on a fuel consumption by the plane (as this is one of the most important indicators that determine the efficiency of the exploitation), is this implies some additional changes or limitations, and how fast the airlines will be able to return their investments.
This would be great just for the fact of speed of loading the passengers. I hate waiting for people to hurry up, put there bags up and sit down!