New aircraft design puts passengers into the cargo hold
By David Flynn, December 9 2015
The quest to fit more passengers onto a plane has reached new heights – or perhaps lows – with this novel proposal to turn part of an aircraft's cargo hold into a windowless cabin for economy class travellers.
Revealed in a patent application by aircraft design and fitout firm Zodiac Aerospace, the "Lower Deck Cabin Experience" admittedly has more than a touch of Upstairs, Downstairs about it.
Suitable for larger aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner, along with the Airbus A350, seeks as way for "what has traditionally been a cargo area of a passenger aircraft to be used as a lower deck cabin."
There'd be room enough for two discrete downstairs cabins...
... each with stairwells from the upper or main deck.
What's missing? Windows. No matter: the idea is that screens running the length of the downstairs cabin would show a live view of what's outside the aircraft.
Zodiac has outlined a number of layouts for the lower deck, using conventional seating arrangements...
... as well as a 'metro'-style layout in which passengers would face the centre of the plane (with an additional single row of seats running along the middle).
With no room overhead room for carry-on bags, stowage bins would be built into the sidewalls – but Zodiac also suggests that part of the lower deck could have 'cubbies' for bag storage, with the same zone also containing vending machines for inflight snacks.
(Small 'trolley lift' shafts would allow for meals to be easily lowered from the main deck kitchens.)
Of course, this doesn't have to be a ploy to get more bums onto the cheap seats – one of these nooks might make for an exclusive downstairs bar or lounge for business or first class passengers.
Click here to peruse the full patent application.
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
12 Jun 2013
Total posts 735
Makes sense, if the space can be more profitably used for passengers than cargo. Can't say I'd particularly miss windows, especially on long flights.
I know Lufthansa A340s at least have a downstairs toilet, which is actually pretty nice. Going for a stroll downstairs makes a nice change to the monotony of flight, and you don't have to deal with the noises, smells or queues for the toilet on the main deck.
I would wonder whether this design would pass safety regulations though. How are the lower-deck pax going to evacuate in an emergency?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Oct 2013
Total posts 113
i love the sound of it - and would make a great bar / lounge for business or first - if not an exclusive PE area? but not sure re the no windows with a live feed would be a bit weird as if no sides to the plane! and ditto safety concerns hugo!
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1245
Literally a slave ship.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
02 Nov 2013
Total posts 29
Well, not literally.
Velocity Platinum
10 May 2013
Total posts 82
Didn't the IL-96 have something like this? (Without the outside projections)
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Jul 2011
Total posts 1378
Given the amount that shutters are generally closed for longhaul flights, probbaly a better view.
And middle seat pax cant see out windows anyways
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
15 Dec 2014
Total posts 284
I have always thought of this, and hoping it was going to be invented!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 Mar 2015
Total posts 4
McDonnell Douglas considered optional lower deck cabins WITH windows for stretched versions of the MD-11, which never happened. They called it the panoramic deck, as the windows on the lower fuselage would be at a shallow angle, offering interesting views. Perhaps their patent expired!
19 Jun 2014
Total posts 32
I thought airlines make more money from cargo than from passengers?
China Southern Airlines - Sky Pearl Club
30 Sep 2013
Total posts 11
Gave me nightmares just reading about it I get Claustrophobic feeling without a window.
British Airways - Executive Club
15 Apr 2013
Total posts 6
Why not have a glass bottom to the aircraft as with some boats and let downstairs passengers enjoy the best views of all?
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1518
The best suggestion ever! Only better one would be toilet with glass floor :-)))
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
11 May 2015
Total posts 30
Bombs away.....
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
03 Apr 2014
Total posts 14
"Ambulant cargo", "self-loading freight" ... saay no more! No different, really, to the way military personnel are carted around the globe, be it via C-130, C-17, or my favourites Il-76 and the pax compartment in the fin-fillet of the An-124 ... airline seats? Luxury, I say!
11 Mar 2012
Total posts 316
Given I hate it when people open windows during flight (has set of migraines in my head more than once) I'd be ok with a windowless area.
11 Mar 2012
Total posts 316
"set off"
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1518
Some stupid idiots vote down your post and I bet few other will vote this one down as well.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 Jun 2012
Total posts 58
I wouldn't mind being windowless, personally, but why not designate the space for people flying with children. Build in a play area and baby changing stations. Let the rest of us sleep undisturbed upstairs.
14 Feb 2012
Total posts 37
Oh my.... never let Tracey Spicer hear you say something like that lol. Children should be spread throughout the cabin to ensure we all get the joy of them screaming.
08 Dec 2011
Total posts 4
" I got upgraded to economy" is a line I have been waiting to use.
09 Jul 2014
Total posts 31
Comment of the day. XD
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Apr 2012
Total posts 317
Private sleeper cabins or a lounge/bar area to free up space upstairs for more seats?
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
02 Nov 2013
Total posts 29
Actually, I like the idea of an individual cubby for carry-on.
Not so much the rest of it.
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