Double-decker plane seat design ‘comfortable’ but ‘claustrophobic’

It has been described as “roomy” yet “claustrophobic”
Handout
Lowenna Waters16 June 2022

A brand new double-decker plane seat design has been described as “roomy” yet “claustrophobic” by passengers, as it will see economy class passengers seated on top of one another.

Designer Alejandro Nuñez Vicente developed his “Chaise Longue Economy Seat” concept as a university student, and it came to global attention after it was shortlisted in the 2021 Crystal Cabin Awards, as well as appearing in a CNN travel article.

Handout

The dual-level design sees passangers in the top row climb the steps to their seats, while those in the bottom row can stretch out their legs and lie flat.

Testing it out, CNN’s Francesca Street described it as “a little precarious” however she revealed that once she’d got to the top, she found it “roomy and comfortable”, and that there was plenty of room to stretch out her legs.

She added: “But if you don’t mind tight spaces, and you’re planning simply to sleep all flight, it could be an effective solution.”

Speaking about his design, Nuñez Vicente said: “I grow more from listening to the critics and listening to the bad comments, than from listening to the good comments and the flowers that they throw me.

“My purpose here is to change the economy class seats for the better of humanity, or for all the people that cannot afford to pay for more expensive tickets,” he says.

The new design also does away with the overhead storage cabin in usual airplanes, transferring the area for storage of carry-on luggage to between the top and bottom rows.

However, the design hasn’t come without criticism.

Handout

In response to the CNN article, author Amber Sparks tweeted: “Fresh hell just dropped”.

Others on social media also reacted to the seats. Writer Kaz Weida tweeted: “I’ll be back to comment on this once my claustrophobia lets me breathe again.”

“One of the phrases I get a lot, is ‘If it’s not broken, why change it?’” admits Núñez Vicente. “So if passengers still fly in the worst economy class seats, why are we going to give them a better option? It makes money. That’s the goal of the airline at the end of the day, not to make your flight better.”

The seat design was initially intended for a new plane in development at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, however, Nunex Vincente has described how it could work in any medium to heavy-weight aircraft.

Handout

He also hopes to partner with an airline or seat manufacturer to make his dream a reality.

Speaking about the idea, he said: “We see it as the future of the economy class.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in