Lightweight aircraft cabin solutions are considered a key lever to support aviation decarbonisation. That’s why nature-inspired innovation and bionic design are central themes to Airbus’ vision of the future travel experience, as outlined in its Airspace Cabin Vision 2035+ project.
But the airframer is going beyond simply publishing glossy renderings and presentations about its vision. It is engaging in tangible work to bring biomimicry principles to life and reckons that up to 40% of weight can be slashed for cabin structural and lining elements by using this approach.
During the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Airbus showcased an overhead bin with a bionic structure made of recyclable thermoplastic material.
The ultra-light, semi-transparent nature of the bin was certainly eye-catching. And that’s precisely the point, said Airbus vice president cabin marketing Ingo Wuggetzer, noting the importance of making sustainable interiors visible to passengers where and when possible.
Why hide sustainable innovation, he asked rhetorically? “It looks cool, and this is one of the things I want to achieve, that people see it,” he told Runway Girl Network.
“It’s bionic, it’s lightweight. So, people should get it” — i.e. see the focus on sustainability, he added. “That’s the idea.”
From a durability standpoint, Airbus is not quite where it wants to be with the bionic bin structure, Wuggutzer admitted. But its work continues.
“To get that ready I would say it takes end of 2030 to get it really industrialized. It takes a while,” he said. “And that’s why we have a vision and the vision is 2035. [We] definitely want to deliver before [then], but it still is a process to develop.”
A recyclable thermoplastic ceiling and bionic cabin partition were also on display at the Airbus stand. Indeed, as far back as 2016, Airbus started working on bionic partitions. Using 3D printer technology, the airframer mimics the organic cellular structure and bone growth found in living organisms.
When developing more sustainable cabins, lightweight materials and recycling can work in lock step together. But the ‘primary recycling’ of aircraft interiors faces challenges.
Due to stringent flammability regulations, thermoplastics used in aircraft interiors cannot presently be recycled into future aircraft interiors. That’s why Airbus is pursuing ‘secondary recycling’ for its recyclable content.
Sidewalls and bin linings can be upcycled into furniture for use on the ground, giving them “a second life”, said Wuggetzer.
Airbus’ vision for cabin recycling was outlined in an infographic at the airframer’s stand at AIX 2024.
Pointing to a piece of furniture made from recycled interiors, Wuggetzer said: “My kids have tables like this.”
The Airbus executive acknowledged that “it definitely takes a while” to achieve more sustainable aircraft cabins, but added: “you see we are close, it’s feasible.”
Whilst Airbus is driving parts of its Vision 2035+ forward, Wuggetzer noted that the onus is also on suppliers to help realize it “because we are not creating a lot of cabin parts ourselves”.
One such supplier, Diehl Aviation, stands ready to support the airframer, though its initial sustainable cabin work is a little less visible to passengers.
A new Diehl ECO Sidewall, for instance, uses basaltic prepregs and a Kevlar® honeycomb core to slash the carbon footprint of production whilst achieving a 10% weight reduction compared to existing sidewall technologies. The innovative design, which won the 2024 Crystal Cabin Award for Sustainable Cabin in Hamburg, could be flying soon aboard Airbus jets.
Together with a lightweight powder coating and a bio-based prepreg resin, Diehl’s ECO Sidewall is billed as setting new standards for sustainable cabin designs while also reducing fuel consumption during service.
To the naysayers who suggest that key elements of Airbus’ ultimate Vision 2035+ are not achievable, Wuggetzer said: “You need to start the change” and “take the people with us on that journey.”
While not every solution will make it to primetime, “a lot of things work quite well.”
Related Articles:
- SIMONA Boltaron ensures material traceability in sustainability push
- Acro CEO on why Series 9 recyclability is only the beginning
- Boeing eyes using recycled aircraft carbon fiber for cabin sidewalls
- STG unveils lighter, biodegradable floor path safety glow strip
- Perfectly imperfect: Aviation explores beauty of recycled interiors
- Airframers offer complementary sustainable cabin visions
- Airbus unveils 2035+ concept cabin and sustainability building blocks
