Gallery: Airbus gives a glimpse of futuristic cabin designs

Building on two earlier sets of futuristic cabin-design concepts issued in 2011 and 2019, Airbus head of cabin marketing Ingo Wuggetzer said the focus has shifted from personalization and digitalization to sustainability. 
 

One of the main ideas put forward by Airbus is the use of bionic materials, using designs that mimic nature. “We see several solutions that work amazingly well for lightweight design,” Wuggetzer said. He gave the example of an aircraft partition, based on mushroom growth patterns. “You calculate billions of different versions, based on this random natural pattern that has been taken from that mushroom, and come up with a solution that no human being would have thought of, but it is 40% lighter,” he said. Modern materials and 3D printing have made it possible to put these design ideas into practice.
 

Airbus is also looking at ways to make more of its cabin components reusable, because this figure sits at just 30% today. “We need to get better,” Wuggetzer said. “They’re not really designed for reuse. They have been designed to be lightweight, they have been designed to be low cost, but not for re-use. That’s why the number is quite low.”
 

Smaller interior products, like brackets and sidewalls, can be redesigned today. But Airbus is planning an “architectural change” on new aircraft designs beyond 2035, using interiors that can be repaired, reused and “endlessly” recycled, minimizing their lifecycle impact. 
 

Airbus is anticipating that passengers will use one mobile phone app for their entire journey. This app will include detailed information about the eco-impact of their trip, along with catering pre-selections. The app will also enable continuous boarding, making the journey smoother. Once onboard, passengers will be able to use QR codes, printed on aircraft structures, to learn about their sustainability credentials. Lighting will play a key role in futuristic cabins, which will be brighter, more spacious and more personalized.
 

Airbus is currently considering three future aircraft architectures—a turboprop, a jet engine, and a blended-wing body—and no decision is anticipated before 2025-2026.