“Seat of Innovation” at the AIX 2016

On close to 1,000 square meters of exhibition space, Recaro will be presenting seats for the economy, premium economy and business classes. "We want to provide answers to questions that our customers and airlines haven’t even considered yet. It’s about offering the unexpected and delivering added value, as well as continuously raising our own benchmark," explains Dr. Mark Hiller, Chief Executive Officer and Shareholder of Recaro Aircraft Seating GmbH & Co. KG.

An adaptable lightweight in the starting position

In Hamburg, Recaro will be demonstrating how well this can succeed with a new development for the economy class. The new addition weighs even less than its predecessor while delivering an enhanced space offering. To this end, the aircraft seat experts capitalize on state-of-the-art lightweight materials. "Of course, we aspire to save even more weight in our new generation for the economy class. Equally important, however, is to offer our customers the greatest possible adaptability. It will be such that they can choose from a wide range of possibilities when it comes to selecting their personal seat features," specifies Martin Rehmet, Product Manager at Recaro, when highlighting what will be shown for this market segment in Hamburg.

What customers want and much more

"With this in mind, we are always in close contact with our customers and we challenge ourselves in ways that drive innovation." Recaro will be bringing along a current example of this to Hamburg – the PL3530. The seat, developed for premium economy applications, is equipped with an enhanced leg rest, along with a larger screen and more storage space for smaller items. The extendable leg rest is longer and wider than the one on the previous PL3510 model and ensures even better comfort – for taller passengers as well. "Ongoing discussions with our customers during product development really pay off. Our PL3530 is perceived by many as being the most comfortable seat in its class," says Klaus Steinmeyer, Vice President Strategy, Products and Programs. "We also developed an ideal solution whereby the screen is elegantly integrated into the seat, so that it is easy to access without compromising the passenger’s living space. The market responds very strongly to advances in the area of in-flight entertainment, as attested by high demand."

Lightweight premium comfort

Recaro will also be presenting the CL6710 long-haul seat from its business class portfolio. It offers an ideal balance of ergonomic premium comfort, light weight and design that can be extensively customized. "Even if a seat enjoys high capacity utilization and market demand, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be made even better. We spent a lot time talking with our customers and this led to the targeted further development of the CL6710," says Michael Hoppe, the responsible Product Manager at Recaro. "We are really looking forward to showing exactly what this means at the AIX. Beginning in 2017, passengers will also be able to experience the enhanced seat in-flight." Independently from the innovations, the seat offers generous storage space and can be extended into a completely flat bed. The intelligent layout makes every seat accessible from the aisle and enables a highly efficient cabin seating configuration which can be fully adapted to the specific requirements of the airlines, without passengers having to compromise on comfort or privacy. "True to our trade show slogan 'Seat of Innovation,' we are continuously working on new, innovative solutions that further enhance performance in the economy and business class segments. We are very much looking forward to feedback from our visitors at the AIX," says Hiller.