Say what you want about awards. Everyone craves them, and everyone treasures them. When it comes to aviation, the most esteemed honor is the annual Crystal Cabin Awards, the world’s only awards for aircraft cabin products and concepts. This year the awards are focused on the future, and the future indeed looks bright and fantastic. Teague’s Elevate is one such cabin that has been shortlisted for the 2022 edition shows. The spectacular business-class aircraft suite results from a collaboration between the Seattle-based company and Nordam and will be showcased at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2022 in Hamburg later this year. What sets Teague’s Elevate apart is its seamless ability to look like a luxurious home away from home. The new single-aisle aircraft cabin with suites bears an uncanny resemblance to elegant living rooms.
The limited space has comfortably and aesthetically placed fixtures like a wall-mounted TV, an ottoman, and a slatted wooden divider. Nothing looks out of place or crammed; instead, it gives an inviting and warm vibe essential for personal space. Renderings reveal an eye-pleasing olive-green carpet, flanked with side tables and accentuating marble and light wood surfaces. Elevate makes clever space by connecting the seats and cabin furniture to the sidewalls and aisles, leaving the floor capacious and open to the passengers. A massive entertainment monitor and ottoman complete the cabin to make this a comprehensive luxurious experience for flyers.
Anthony Harcup, Senior Director of Airline Experience at Teague, said, ‘At a time when passenger wellbeing and sustainability are industry priorities, Elevate heralds in a new generation of beautiful, simplified cabin products that will enable airlines to deliver exceptional experiences for their passengers with the economic efficiency that these smaller aircraft were designed to deliver.’ Nordam CEO Meredith Siegfried Madden shared, ‘This next-generation innovation enables more creative freedom for the aircraft interior design community. By revolutionizing how seats and other monuments attach to an aircraft, Nbrace recruits previously wasted space, transforming it into new aesthetic possibilities and dramatically improved passenger comfort, space, and privacy,’ as per Daily Mail.
Helsinki-based airline Finnair is also shortlisted for its redrafted premium cabins dubbed AirLounge. These business class seats don’t recline at all, instead are more of a private cocoon where the passenger treats it as a sofa in the sky. The space is built for several comfortable positions; it is all taken care of whether you want to lay flat and nap, work on your laptop with your feet resting high, or sit and watch a movie. Elevate is only a concept and a contender for the Crystal Cabin Awards. The winners will be announced in June 2022.
