![seats](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-04/janus_front_view_source_aviointeriors.jpg?itok=mUy-dm0m)
Italian aircraft-interiors specialist Aviointeriors has unveiled two social-distancing seat designs, aimed at safeguarding against COVID-19 contamination, which could be available within a short time frame.
“We have studied new solutions that take into account social distancing among passengers sitting on the same seat in the economy class, where there is a condition of higher density,” Aviointeriors said, announcing the two products on April 20.
The two designs include a booth-like transparent shield that can be retrofitted to existing seats, and a new economy-class layout, with a backward-facing middle seat.
![seats](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/inline-images/GLASSAFE_seat%2Bkit_revised_avioninteriors.jpg?itok=qipsuOiK)
Naples-headquartered Aviointeriors said the “already designed and industrialized solutions” can be supplied in “a very short time,” even if airlines require customization.
The retrofit shield kit, branded as “Glassafe,” acts as a transparent barrier between passengers, without incumbering seat-back amenities, such as tables, magazine pockets and coat hooks.
Aviointeriors said Glassafe is easy to install, remove and clean, and can be supplied in different degrees of transparency, right through to opaque.
Meanwhile, the “Janus” seat—named after a two-faced Roman god—is aa row of three economy seats with the middle seat reversed. This design also comes with a protective shield, maximizing passenger separation.
“The center passenger, facing backwards, occupies the same space as others, so this seat does not need a pitch higher than usual. Access and exit clearance are as usual too,” Aviointeriors said.
Aviointeriors, which was founded in 1972, said it designed the products to make post-virus travel safer and to meet potential new passenger-distancing requirements.