Finnair AirLounge Seat – A Design Story
“Marmite…”
That’s all I heard as I left the office to make my way to the airport to travel with Finnair for the very first time.
I understood clearly the sentiment of the comment as I hadn’t stopped talking about Finnair and their business class cabin in the weeks running up to this trip. The images, reviews and various videos I’d shown the entire office had raised some eyebrows and certainly divided opinion. It was a case that I was either going to ‘love it or hate it’!
Finnair has now rolled out a revolutionary business class seat across its entire long-haul fleet and it’s the design considerations behind it that makes for a fascinating story. This unique and uncompromising seat was developed by Collins Aerospace and for me, it’s a really good example of where designers have considered the human condition/behaviour, aspects of operational efficiency for the airline, and a commitment to sustainability.
When you enter the cabin there’s an immediate sense of calm, spaciousness and ‘rauha’ – a Finnish word that describes the feeling of quiet balance and serenity. As for the seat itself, it feels like a thoughtfully designed piece of furniture as opposed to a normal business class seat. The generous curved outer shell, wide ottoman, and integrated side-table creates a feeling of spaciousness – I am 6ft tall and I was able to sit crossed legged in it!
The shell surrounds you with privacy, the materials and finishes that have been used cleverly mute the sound of the cabin and even the mood-lighting plays on the colours of the Northern Lights. All of this makes it feel more like a residential setting rather than the inside of plane flying at 35,000 feet.
What makes the AirLounge seat so compelling from a design perspective is just how much thought and rigour sits behind (excuse the pun) its seemingly simple form.
Its original ethos was to bring the comfort and feel of living-room furniture into the aircraft cabin. The designers involved in the project said “Many aircraft seats are quite similar to each other. We wanted to design a straightforward seat that reflected the look, feel, comfort and function of living-room furniture found in people’s homes” to my mind they did this pretty well.
When I dug a bit deeper into the project, seemingly with any new innovation programme a lot of investment was made into producing physical mock ups of the product and then testing it over and over again. User ergonomics, materials, and structural simplicity continuously evolved to ensure that the idea on paper actually worked rather than having to go back and rely upon the usual business class seat design.
As a result, this seat has only 2 moving parts to help it convert into a flat bed. Fewer moving parts makes for a much lighter construction and when you make an aircraft lighter you get lower fuel burn and less emissions.
All of this is also good news for Finnair engineers as fewer moving parts means less maintenance and this helps eliminate any downtime. A plane that is on the ground is not earning money!
What worked for me?
- The cocoon-effect: The shell felt spacious and private. I could lean back, lounge or sit cross-legged in a way that’s rare for typical business-class seats
- Bed mode: When set to flat bed, the combination of the ottoman plus the infill panel and the mattress topper worked brilliantly and I concur with a lot of reviewers that this could be one of the best beds in the air currently
- Sustainability felt credible: this piece of bravery by Finnair wasn’t an add-on but something that was purposeful when it came to the seat’s engineering and overall form – quiet, solid, weight saving
Some considerations
- Because there’s no traditional recline motion, moving from upright to lie-flat takes a bit of effort and manoeuvring. You have to settle yourself into the niche rather than press a button and tilt back. Some users might prefer the simplicity of a motorised recline
- You have to be smart with the supplied cushions on the seat. They are very much part of the seat as opposed to being purely decorative. You need to find the right level of support and comfort and that might take a few minutes depending on where you are in the seat
Why does all of this matter?
From a strategic point of view, the AirLounge seat does three things well:
- Different & better: It’s a brave move for Finnair seeing as they are the only customer with this kind of seat. Is it different and for all the reasons above but is it better? Again, it’s a yes from me. It may not be ‘for everyone’ but it’s a great product
- Sustainability: With the weight savings and ease of maintenance this seat helps Finnair meet its sustainability goals and it’s a great example of how design can and should be done ‘for better’
- Human-centred: The user studies and the ergonomic data points used to ensure this piece of design actually works is a great example of designers looking at how we sit, lounge, recline and sleep and then bringing that into the aircraft cabin
Final thoughts
My flight with Finnair wasn’t just comfortable and enjoyable, it felt like a genuine step forward in long-haul travel design. The whole thing worked incredibly well. It is a brave and unique piece of thinking as it’s taken the idea of what we naturally do at home and tried to emulate that as we move around the skies.
This is a genuinely ‘smart’ seat where design has played a critical role in delivering something new. And in case you’re wondering and haven’t already guessed “I loved it…”
Words by James Acton