INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
when you fly in an Airbus jet and you fancy a bit of shut-eye, all you will need do is make your way down to the cargo hold.European
aircraft giant Airbus announced on Tuesday that it is teaming up with Zodiac Aerospace to develop and market lower deck sleeping facilities
for passengers that could be operational in A330 wide-body jets from 2020.The sleeper compartments "would fit inside the aircraft's cargo
compartments," Airbus said in a joint statement with Zodiac, a subsidiary of the French aerospace company Safran.The modules "will be easily
for the sleeper pods, with the possibility of fitting them into A350 XWB airliners also being studied.Airbus and Zodiac said the sleeping
berths would not only improve passenger comfort, but also enable airlines to add value for their commercial operations."This approach to
commercial air travel is a step change towards passenger comfort," said Geoff Pinner, head of Airbus' cabin and cargo programme."We have
already received very positive feedback from several airlines on our first mock-ups."Christophe Bernardini, head of Zodiac's aerospace cabin
division, said the project "reaffirms our expertise in lower-deck solutions
An improved passenger experience is today a key element of differentiation for airlines."In November 2016, the Air France-KLM had put
forward the idea of sleeping berths for passengers in the economy class, either down in the hold or above the cabin in aircraft of the
group's new low-cost subsidiary, Joon.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is
published from a syndicated feed.)
