Double Dutch as KLM reveals Jongerius cabin design
KLM has revealed details of its forthcoming new business class for its B747-400s, which has been created in conjunction with top Dutch designer Hella Jongerius to offer greater comfort and privacy. The main advance with the design, is the full-flat seats, while the entire cabin has been redesigned, with new carpeting, panel decorations, curtains, lighting, blankets, cushions and upholstery.
The seat is the popular Diamond from B/E Aerospace, which has been customised to offer privacy, with a partition between the IFE screens, as well as storage compartments in the seats beside the passengers and under the television screens. While passengers will no doubt enjoy the new seats, they are a bold move by the airline, as they reduce the business-class seat count in a 747-400 from 42 seats to 35.
Design concept
Following a current trend, the cabin was designed to make passengers feel at home on board, through a warm colour palette, more sustainable materials, and by enhancing personal comfort.The palette features the 'KLM blue', blended with warmer and darker colours into the existing colour range to give the KLM blue extra impact. The five new colours are aubergine, dark brown, midnight blue, cobalt and dark grey, and decorative dot patterns feature on every item in the cabin.
"It is truly remarkable that KLM is open to this kind of approach for its interior. Aircraft interiors have to meet an unbelievable range of technical requirements. We achieved this by simplifying the new seat, changing its colour and upholstering it with high-quality textile," stated Jongerius.
Part of the design brief was to create a cabin that is innovative as well as sustainable, so Jongerius sought new solutions within the existing options available to the airline industry. The carpeting, for instance, was manufactured partly of discarded KLM ladies’ uniforms. KLM recycles all of its discarded carpets in collaboration with carpet manufacturer Desso based on the cradle-to-cradle principle. This is in line with the CSR policy KLM has pursued for years.
July 2013 will see the inaugural flight of the first KLM aircraft with the new interior including the new seat. KLM’s Boeing 747-400 fleet, consisting of 22 aircraft, will be redecorated first. It is expected that the entire 747-fleet will be redecorated by April 2014. Work on KLM’s 15 Boeing 777-200s is planned for the summer of 2014.
Peter Hartman, president & CEO of KLM said at the unveiling, “I am convinced that this contemporary design will be greatly appreciated by our most valued customers and live up to their needs and wishes. Even in times of financial difficulty, KLM continues to invest in customer comfort. I am proud of this superb and unique result: an entire World Business Class cabin created by a leading Dutch designer. In this way, we aim to give our passengers that warm at-home feeling.”
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