Sleep in a Real Bed on your Next Flight?

Ann Fisher April 10, 2018

Design of the proposed Airbus sleep module.

Sleeping Berths

Lay-flat seats may soon be a “so yesterday” thing on first and business class flights. And everything old, like sleeping berths on transatlantic flights, may be new again.

During the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2018 in Hamburg Germany, Airbus and Zodiac Aerospace announced that they are partnering to develop modules for sleep, a children’s play area, an infirmary, as well as conference space.

These modules would be designed to fit into the cargo space of the Airbus A330 airplane, and could be installed on jets as soon as 2020, both on new planes, and retro-fitted on existing ones. This could be an seating option for many airlines operating Airbus planes on long-haul routes.

According to Airbus, “the new passenger modules will be easily interchangeable with regular cargo containers during a typical turnaround if required. Moreover, the aircraft’s cargo floor and cargo loading system will not be affected at all, as the passenger module will sit directly on it.”

Instead of carrying cargo modules, the airline would insert passenger modules for sleep, medical care, play, or workspace onto a particular jet.

The mockup of the sleeping modules is certainly inviting — very modern, with ambient lighting, and individual bed pods — bunkbed sleeping berths.

The airlines hate lay-flat beds because they take up so much space, reducing the number of passengers they can carry on a given flight. It will be interesting to see how quickly companies adopt this work-around.

We’ll have to wait for press releases from airlines that head in this direction to find out whether you’ll book access to these spaces ahead, or whether passengers will do this once onboard.