While airline fares continue to become more expensive due to rising fuel costs, this week at the 2022 Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany, a 22-year-old designer is showing off his double-decker seat creation that could create a major change in travel prices.
Alejandro Núñez Vicente developed the "Chaise Longue Airplane Seat" last year, and his design earned a nomination at the 2021 Crystal Cabin Awards which is the "only international award for excellence in aircraft interior innovation."
Since then, his concept of double-decker seats on a plane has gained interest from major airlines and seat manufacturers. Núñez Vicente has decided to take a break from his graduate school program and focus on the design full-time. His goal of the double-decker seats is to make it cheaper for the average traveler.
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"My purpose here," Núñez Vicente said, "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."
CNN Travel got to check out the design at the AIX event in Germany, and detailed what it was like to sit in a double-decker seat on a plane.
"Núñez Vicente's designed the prototype with two ladder-like steps for travelers to use to access the top level," CNN's Francesca Street wrote.
"It's a little precarious, but once I'm up there, the seat feels roomy and comfortable, and there's plenty of room for stretching out my legs," said Street. "The prototype seats don't move, but they're each set up in a different positions to indicate how they could recline."
Instead of an overhead cabin, the design has space between the two levels of seats for people to store their bags.
Although if you're claustrophobic, then you may want to avoid traveling on this type of design in the future. There's about 5 feet (1.5 meters) of space between the passenger sitting on the top seat and the top of the plane. Núñez Vicente noted that even though that may not sound like a lot of space to get up, there are many travelers who can't stand up in a regular economy seat either.
"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," said Núñez Vicente.
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Street added that she felt more comfortable in the bottom row of seats where there was more leg room and a foot rest. She mentioned that a lack of leg room in traditional planes was a main factor for Núñez Vicente's design.
"Still, because the other level of seats are directly above me and in my eyeline, it feels pretty claustrophobic," Street admitted. "But if you don't mind tight spaces, and you're planning simply to sleep all flight, it could be an effective solution."
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The young designer believes that his creation could work with "a Boeing 747, Airbus A330, or any other medium to large wide-body airplane." He understands that new seat designs haven't made much of a realistic impact on the airline industry yet, but still believes that his idea would improve flights for passengers.
"One of the phrases I get a lot, is 'If it's not broken, why change it?'" Núñez Vicente said. "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."
His next objective to improve the double-decker seat concept is to make them lighter, and believes that can happen once he partners with an airline or seat manufacturer.
"Right now, we're showing the market what we have," Núñez Vicente said. "And we're letting the market come and tell us what we need to do next."
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