aircraftinteriorsinternational.com
NOVEMBER 2019 083
2
A IRGO G A L A X Y
“ We started with the
notion there has to
be a simpler, more
elegant solution”
I ncreasing seat count without sacrificing
passenger comfort is a common goal in
business class cabin design, and one
which has resulted in a fascinating array of
LOPAs. However, Singapore-based seating design
specialist, AirGo Design believes it has found a
simpler solution with Galaxy, which takes a
different approach to business class cabin layouts.
Co-founder and CTO of AirGo Design,
Alireza Yaghoubi, has been impressed by recent
seating arrangements that have increased seat count from
a typical 24 seats in zone A of a B777, to 28 in the same
floor area – such as United Airline’s Polaris, based on
Safran’s Optima platform. Some seating designers have
gone further, such as Optimares with its Aria seat, which
debuted at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2018 in Hamburg and
is claimed to enable 32 seats in that same floorspace.
However, some of the most dense arrangements
require passenger compromises, such as a mix of
rear-facing seats and indirect aisle access, as well as
living within a complex LOPA. As Yaghoubi says,
“Some of these seating arrangements are too complex;
so much so that they look more like a maze. We started
with the notion that there has to be a simpler, more
elegant solution.”
The solution began with the team identifying the aisle
as a problem in business class cabin design, in particular
the aisle narrowing at the back of zone A due to the
tapered shape of the fuselage. The solution was simple in
principle: to avoid fitting seats in the tapered part of the
cabin, retaining a constant aisle width of 20in in the
passenger zone.
The result is a little less simple, with two distinct seat
types – a herringbone outboard and reverse herringbone
inboard in a widebody configuration, all facing the centre
of the cabin. The Galaxy layout is good for cabin density,
offering a projected 36 seats in zone A of a B777 – eight
more than United Airlines’ Polaris cabin. However, what
the layout doesn’t offer is a window view for outboard
passengers, or consistency throughout the passenger
experience. But then, perhaps additional choice isn’t
a bad thing for passengers,
and frequent flyers with a
preference for either seat
layout will be catered
for, potentially
widening the
customer
audience.
As Yaghoubi
explains, “The
middle seats are
ideal for business
travellers, with a high
Narrow-body application
Galaxy’s a modular arrangement is suitable for various widebody aircraft types
such as the A330, A350, B787 and certain private jets. The outboard seat design
is also suitable for narrow-body aircraft, with Yaghoubi seeing interesting
potential for the long-haul A321 platform.
“The demise of the A380 and the strong interest in A321XLR suggests that we
are going to see more and more long-haul flights on narrow-body aircraft. On
the A320 family, we can maintain the same number of seats as in typical regional
business class cabins, except that our seats have flat-beds,” states Yaghoubi.
A VR tour of Galaxy on a B777 can be
found at www.airgodesign.com/galaxy
1. A SOCIAL AREA CAN
BE FITTED WHERE THE
FUSELAGE TAPERS
2. GALAXY IN A
WIDEBODY LOPA
3. A PROPOSED SINGLEAISLE
LOPA FOR GALAXY
4. A LUXURIOUS NARROWBODY
BUSINESS CLASS
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/galaxy