This New Blended Cabin Could Introduce the World’s First Lay-Flat Premium Economy Seat

[gallery ids="172403,172402,172400,172398,172396,172395,172394,172393,172389"] As we move closer to a future of air travel where traditional cabin class labels lose all meaning, Formation Design is proposing a blended premium cabin which could introduce the world’s first lay-flight Premium Economy seats — occupying the same cabin area as private Business class suites. The aircraft interiors space race has led to some curious proposals, but it has also fueled practical and viable creative innovations. Many of these are recognized as nominees in this year’s Crystal Cabin Awards. We spoke with Robert Henshaw, Partner at Formation Design, about his blended lie-flat cabin which is among this year’s Crystal Cabin nominees. It reflects a trend to blend cabins according to passenger travel preferences, and add introduce more comfort to middle-market passengers who want more than an ordinary Economy experience, and perhaps less than traditional First or high-end Business class products. 3D Redefined The Formation lay-flat cabin consists of a variable number of seats—according to airline preference—with suites stacked slightly over the feet of the lay-flat seats on either side to better use the space. This 3D design technique has taken off among industry designers to better use space in the cabin as airlines try to fit more passengers in premium seats. The position of the suite in Formation's blended cabin is such that the overlap does not affect the other customers underneath, though. For them, the experience is similar to todayâ