More than ever, aviation is taking inspiration from all kinds of different industries to give passengers what they want. A clear trendsetter is automotive, as well as rail and even cruises.

As Maria Laamanen, In-Flight Manager, Norwegian, says: “I think it is all interlinked, and even how you to get to the airport and from the airport is part of your travel. So I think it probably will be seen more as an overall package in the future, possibly with different apps giving you the whole solution instead of just point-to-point flight. There are some interesting developments.”

Cars are seen as the main trend-setter, though. Recently, for example, Adient and Boeing showcased prototypes for lie-flat business class seats, following the announcement of their proposed joint venture earlier this year. Adient said it will transfer what it has learned in automotive to aerospace.

If we see it in cars, we’ll see it on planes

Uwe Dieter Weigele, Weigele Aerospace, comments: “I’m pretty sure that premium car manufacture will influence the aircraft industry because we will see, for example, seat heatings and seat coolings, refrigerators. If we see refrigerators inside the car, we will see it inside the aircraft as well. And we will see adjoining aircraft and cars, premium cars in air taxis, and things like that.”

Paymen Sabeti, Sabeti Wain Aerospace, adds: “Really, the closest industry to aviation is automotive. Very similar methods, similar market, where you’re catering to an individual’s personal needs. A lot of ideas and innovation from automotive end up in aviation. It needs to be modified because the fire retardency rules are different, the certification is different, etc. but I think we see a lot of things invented in automotive end up in aviation.”

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