Concerns about the safety of passengers on flight in the aftermath of the global pandemic (COVID-19) has been on the rise. There is the need for the compulsory use of face masks and it has become essential that passengers need to maintain a distance of approximately six feet or two meters from others.
As part of the solution to the safety of passengers, especially the economic fliers, an Italian firm Aviointeriors known to have been producing aircraft cabin interiors and passengers’ seats for over 40 years, has come up with an interesting new seat design that would best ensure a safe distance between passengers.
Janus and Glassafe Seats Design
The two new seat designs were called the “Janus seat” and the “Glassafe seat”. Plans for the both seat designs were released by Aviointeriors on the 20th of this month (April 2020).
The “Janus seats” contain three seats in a row that prevents passengers from directly facing each other in a close proximity. The middle seat is made to face the back while the rest of the seats face the front thus, it was called a “two face Janus”. Each seat has a shield around it believed to have been “made of transparent material” that act to “prevent breath propagation”
The “Glassafe seats” has some protective shield that not only separates passengers but “to reduce the probability of contamination by virus or any other.”
Aviointeriors told CNN that many airlines have already started showing interest in both the Jenus and the Glassafe seat designs thus, the company is currently going through the engineering design steps. In fact, the company believes and promised to deliver the newly designed seats within 6 months.
Although the company has acknowledged the weight nature of the “Glassafe” design but they insist, having such a design is better than flying with an empty middle seat.
Satisfied that both designs are suitable for narrow and wide body aircraft, the company went ahead to file patent applications for the both designs.