The Seat

Comfort and maximum Sustainability Impact are the main goals for developing FAIRcraft – The Seat, a cyclable seat that is made exclusively from mono-materials and follows the principle of circular design.

By adopting a radical lightweight design approach, a single seat weighs only 5.1 kg, plus 0.8 kg for additional airline rails, with further optimization potential of more than 25%.

Additionally, the design complies with the Cradle2Cradle Framework.

Improved Ergonomics and Safety

The textiles are designed to optimally adapt to human ergonomics and enable comfortable travelling.

Enhanced functionality

High seating comfort

Increased safety through 4-point harness

Automatic fold-up seating 

Improved seat accessibility for highly efficient boarding

Optional relief by upright standing during flight

Circular design

The innovative design approach of The Seat enables a world-first alignment of lightweight and circular design principles within the aircraft cabin. Especially, FST (Fire, Smoke, Toxicity) requirements in an aircraft cabin limit the selection of available circular materials, which often leads to a compromise between recyclability and lightweight construction.

For FAIRcraft – The Seat, the recyclability of all components is a main requirement, alongside lightweight construction and safety, as well as durability and repairability. By applying the essential 3-R-Strategies Reduce, Repair and Recycle material usage and value retention are maximized.

Lightweight design

The textile-based design enables a radical lightweight construction, that already weighs oonly 5.1 kg, plus 0.8 kg for rails, per seat. The current development stage offers additional weight reduction potential of at least 25%, while complying with CS 25 crash safety regulations.

Design for Disassembly

The seat is divided into three material groups:

Fabric cover: Made from C2C-certified and aviation-certified Climatex fabric.

Static Fabric and Straps: The development of a mono-material is targeted here and known to be technically feasible.

Structural Parts: Material options include recyclable thermoplastic composites with inherent FST-resistant properties (e.g. PESU) and aluminum.

All sewn connections are made with STITCHLOCK thread from Climatex. A design for disassembly allows for seamless integration into the biological or technical cycle.

Aircraft Compliance and MRO benefits

The development of The Seat always focused on compliance with all relevant aircraft standards, such as CS-25. Crash safety has been virtually tested by extensive simulation and conservative material choices, that leave significant optimization potential. Structural integrity of the airframe with additional loads through textile bracing is subject to ongoing investigations.

Due to the integral Circular Design, components are durable and easily repairable. Based on the high number of identical parts a high spare part availability can be realized with lean stocks. Overall, the holistic material concept prevents resource losses for part manufacturers as the value of the components can be maintained and retained effectively.