Airbus Airspace - Fostering Innovation

At this year's Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) Cabin Expo in Hamburg, Germany, Airbus showcased new A330neo Airspace cabin features, the A321XLR widebody cabin experience, products and capabilities to support our customers' cabin retrofit solutions, connected aircraft solutions, and our Cabin Vision 2035+ leading the way in cabin sustainability.

A330neo: New Airspace Cabin features

Airbus unveiled for the first time at the Aircraft Interiors eXpo (AIX) a special full-scale mock-up of the A330neo showing the proposed new Airspace cabin features:

- New Hero Light and Welcome Panel customisable with 16 million colors and a unique pattern

- New Airspace linings for the interior sidewall bringing more space for passengers, ceiling and door frame panels contributing to weight savings totalling approximately 100 kg throughout the aircraft – equivalent to around 10 carry-on bags

- Latest generation electro-dimmable windows (EDWs) that darken quickly and can effectively block more than 99.999% of visible light as well as the infra-red energy from the sun

These new features would become available for customers in 2027/2028. 

A321XLR: Extending the widebody Airspace experience

The award-winning Airspace interior brings the benefits of long-range widebody comfort to the A321XLR. At the cabin eXpo, Airbus displayed a full-size mock-up of the A321XLR Airspace cabin, allowing customers to experience the full A321XLR long-haul passenger experience:

- Full flat Thompson Vantage Solo business class seats

- Wider Geven Elemento economy seats

- Latest generation IFE and connectivity

- Airspace lavatories for Passengers with Reduced Mobility (PRM)

With single-class configurations for up to 244 passengers, the widest cabin of any single-aisle aircraft offers 18-inch-wide seats for economy passengers and full-flat seats and even suites for premium class passengers. Additional cabin features such as temperature zoning, full LED lighting, connectivity and the new G5XL galley enhance passenger comfort on long-haul flights.

During the event, Kimberly Cisek, American Airlines vice president of customer experience, unveiled the new American Airlines A321XLR cabin.

Airbus Services: Unique capabilities, products and expertise of Airbus retrofit services

Airbus offers unique tools and a wide range of solutions and products to support customers throughout their cabin upgrade journey. At eXpo, the following features were displayed:

- Airspace L Bins (latest  design) offering +60% baggage allowance

- Ultralight Seat with Expliseat (TiSeat2). Lightest seat on Single Aisle 6 kg per seat (30% lighter vs traditional seats), up to 1,200kg of weight savings

- AR experience on complex SA retrofit with different scenarios displayed

- Mood Lighting experience from Design studio & Airbus Design Services. Tailored and premium Design service to upgrade Airlines branding, Aircraft design and much more

Several cabin retrofit announcements took place at the eXpo such as A320 L-bins: Aer Lingus and both THAI A320 and China Airlines A350 cabin retrofits.

Airbus Connected Aircraft 

Under the recently established Connected Aircraft Programme, Airbus is addressing connectivity in a more holistic way by integrating nose-to-tail projects into the responsibility of the new division:

- Connected Operations: Skywise Fleet Performance plus (SFP+) and Navblue Mission+

- Connected Passenger Experience: Airspace Link Wireless Service Portal and Airspace Link HBCplus Ka / Ku band, the flexible high bandwidth connectivity solution for airlines

- Connected Aircraft vision

Airbus Sustainability & Accessibility

Airbus maintains leadership in cabin sustainability. The Airspace Cabin Vision 2035+, published in 2023, offers an inspiring future travel experience for passengers and smart concepts to guide the industry towards more sustainable cabin solutions.

Airbus is leading the industry with concepts that support our Cabin Vision 2035+ and some of the features showcased at eXpo were: Thermoplastic Lining, RECOM Recycling Project, Seat (Acro), New CMF Materials, Bionic Partition Evolution, Bionic Bin Design Vision and Accessibility with Digital Accessibility Video as Airbus' ambition is to lead accessibility initiatives and create value-added cabin solutions for airlines & passengers (physical & digital).

For more information contact:
Candido Serrano Bueno
Airline Marketing Director
candido.serrano-bueno@airbus.com