A rather unusual year for air travel has resulted in several innovations being developed to help make passengers feel – and indeed be – safe in the aircraft cabin. In recognition of these efforts to help make air travel attractive, two special categories have been added to the Crystal Cabin Awards. The entry window for the categories – ‘Clean & Safe Air Travel’ and the ‘Judges’ Choice Award’ – is now open.
Manufacturers, suppliers, researchers, students, design agencies and airlines can submit their concepts for consideration by the judging panel at www.crystal-cabin-award.com, until 12 January 2021. The winners in the two special categories will be announced in parallel with the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2021 in Hamburg next year.
The ‘Clean & Safe Air Travel’ category is open to all on-board innovations focusing on hygiene and safety standards for passengers and crew. Entries must be implementable within two years, and the concepts should not be more than one year old. Concepts and products that have already been entered in a different CCA category in the past are excluded.
The ‘Judges’ Choice Award’ is aimed at innovations for the cabin that are not explicity focused on health and safety, which could normally have been submitted in one of the eight main categories. Those categories comprise Cabin Concepts, Cabin Systems, In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity, Passenger Comfort Hardware, Material & Components, Greener Cabin, University, and Visionary Concepts. Again, it must be possible to implement the proposed innovations within two years. Up to three innovations may be submitted to the panel.
Both categories are also open for student submissions.
An international task force with representatives of the almost 30 experts on the award judging panel, selected from every sector in the aviation industry and every continent, developed the categories.
Entry fee for the first time — student entries exempt
For the first time in its history, the Crystal Cabin Award is levying an entry fee of 290 Euros per submission for this entry phase, with an ‘early bird’ offer of 200 Euros for entries submitted by 20 October. Student submissions are exempt from the entry fee and can still be made free of charge.
According to the awards organisers, this fee brings the award in line with most international industry awards and is a response to the massive increase in project management expenditure, for example in the premium exposure given to candidates in terms of specialist aviation audiences and media.
The industry prize, launched by the Hamburg Aviation industry cluster, will continue to be funded by sponsorship, with sponsors including Aircraft Interiors International magazine, Airbus, Boeing, Aircraft Interiors Expo (Reed Exhibitions), Ameco Beijing, APEX, ATR, Bluebox Aviation Systems, Boltaron, Collins Aerospace, Diehl Aviation, Etihad Aviation Group, FIT AG, Jetliner Cabins, Jetlite, Sekisui Kydex, TSI Seats und Vartan Aviation Group.
Existing finalists from 2020 still in the running
In addition to the two special categories, the 24 finalists in the eight regular categories, selected at the start of the year, are still in the running. The current Crystal Cabin Award round was temporarily suspended in March this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All winners of the Crystal Cabin Awards 2020 season will be crowned in the spring of 2021 after a personal final presentation to the international experts of the judging panel. The two special categories will be awarded in parallel with Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg on 31 August 2021.
If you wish to submit an innovation, you can download the application information package folder HERE in order to prepare your application.
