The opening day of Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg saw Stelia Aerospace launch Opera Essential, the latest addition to its Opera range of aircraft seating, crafted with eco-design principles.
The design, based on the company’s Opera SA, (Single-Aisle) seat, is the culmination of two years of lifecycle analysis and environmental impact assessment. The design approach of Opera Essential gravitates around four key pillars: mass optimisation, streamlined electrical components, incorporation of recycled and recyclable materials, and maintaining the comfort levels required of a long-range business-class seat.
Stelia Aerospace, which is a brand of Airbus Atlantic, claims the approach used for Opera Essential has yielded a 30% reduction in weight compared to the Opera SA version.
Headline developments include the removal of the electrical actuator, ECU and associated cabling, which reduces the seat weight and thus aircraft fuel burn. While the seat actuation is not motor-driven, passengers still have full manual control of their comfort, with an ‘infinite’ number of positions available – and a faster switchover to full flat-bed mode due to the ‘fast kinetic principle’, according to Stelia.
The reduction in parts and electronics in turn reduces seat maintenance costs for operators.
The company’s engineers have also considered all materials used in the seat in terms of environmental impact, circularity and recycling, selecting the most sustainable options, from thermosets to thermoplastics, composite shells to bio leathers.
