Mirus certifies ultra-lightweight 6.9kg/pax Kestrel slimlineRunway Girl

Fresh from a final round of certification testing at its internal M-TEST facility, UK seatmaker Mirus confirms that its slimline, ultra-lightweight Kestrel economy seat is now certified by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) — and at 0.6kg lighter per passenger than previously revealed, for an impressive 6.9kg per passenger fully dressed.

Runway Girl Network experienced Kestrel on-stand at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in 2019 and 2022 and found it an impressive product. Structural engineering shapes the seat’s structure to increase shin clearance while allowing knees-apart clearance for those at or over about 6 feet (just over 180cm) and knees-together clearance for shorter passengers.

Mirus’ global sales and marketing director Marcus Williams explains to RGN that Kestrel has secured its UK TSO (Technical Standard Order) Authorisation, which will now be validated via an EASA process to ETSO-C127b — required following the UK’s decision to withdraw from the European safety agency alongside its departure from the European Union.

“Having met the seat safety standards set by the CAA, the Kestrel seat can now be installed in aircraft,” Mirus says, noting that it “is already in talks with a number of launch customers regarding their newly certified offering, with further announcements planned in the coming months.”

“Part of the efficient certification process can be attributed to Mirus’ onsite UKAS ISO 17025 accredited dynamic test laboratory, M-TEST,” the seatmaker notes. “Opened in April 2023, M-TEST is the UK’s largest commercially available dynamic test facility and allows Mirus to speed up the certification process, whilst also carrying out more tests than would typically be done through the development cycle as the traditional lead-times and testing costs are no longer a factor.”

Since the UK left the European Union, Mirus (based in Norfolk, to the northeast of London) and Thompson Aero Seating (located to the southwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland), have both constructed testing facilities.

Williams explains that the 0.6kg weight reduction in Kestrel “all harkens back to M-TEST. There’s really nothing that’s a step-change: it’s incremental gains. We’ve been able to do that because of the M-TEST facility next door. We’ve done more development testing than would be considered typical for seat companies that would have to pay, and get in the queue for testing. We’ve been able to refine every element of the seat to get it to where it is.”

Indeed, he notes, “whilst there are naturally significant time savings by being able to do our testing inhouse with M-TEST by not having to wait for third party test facilities to become available, with those independent facilities typically working to a 2-3 month leadtime the major time benefits really lie in our ability to react to and quickly perform development and unplanned tests.”

There are also sustainability advantages compared with road freighting seats internationally — an important consideration as sustainability within the cabin receives greater focus.

“Whilst there are obviously significant time and costs savings by not shipping development seats into Europe, and the administration burden that now brings,” Williams notes, “there are very clear sustainability benefits of being able to perform all the tests within our own site boundaries and not having to ship large and heavy seats overseas for the large number of tests it requires to successfully certify a new seat.”

Mirus’ success in certifying Kestrel stands it in good stead to move forward in its discussions with customers — and indeed airframers, whose approval is required for linefit installation of seats on the final assembly factory floor.

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Featured image credited to Mirus