KLM Royal Dutch Airlines revealed the interiors of its new designer business class flying experience on March 19. 2013. Designed by famous Dutch designer, Hella Jongerius, the new interiors include savvy full-flat seats and recycled fabrics.
According to Phaidon.com, Jongerius revamped the business class cabin for the airlines Boeing 747-700 fleet at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. The interiors are made of KLM's official corporate look that includes- blue, purple and brown.
The flooring is done using recycled flight attendant uniforms and features a Milky Way galaxy design with blue dots. The blue cushions also sport the design. The curtains are striped and spotted while the seat covers are dark-navy blue and brown. Jongerius and her team had brought in fabric swatches of grey, brown, purple, white and blue onboard to observe how the colors looked in different lighting.
"The light condition above the clouds and the light temperature makes all colors very red. We had to really work in that sense so that the red goes out of the color palette and so we chose colors that have a bit of green in them," Jongerius told Dezeen at the launch.
"The [previous KLM business class] interior was more business-like, very uniform and efficiently done but this feel of mass-production is not what we want to have right now as an atmosphere. I really want to have luxury. Is luxury glamorous? Luxury for me is comfort," she added.
KLM is the first airline in the aviation industry to have designer interiors. Usually interiors of new airlines are chosen from the existing stock. It was more of a domain for engineers. However, designers have now debuted into airline interior designing as well, reports Dezeen.
Along with designer interiors, KLM also launched its fully-flat seats. The seats are 'Diamond seats' manufactured by B/E Aerospace and include storage space under the TV screens. An expandable footstool allows for ample leg-stretching.
"It is true that other airlines have the Diamond seat, but our new seat is not the same. Our seat is better than Lufthansa's, for instance. Lufthansa's seat is 1.98m long, while ours is 2.07m. Our seats are parallel, not in a "v" position, and our seat back screens are 17 inches, not 15 inches," Erik Varwijk, managing director at KLM, said to the Business Traveler.
The new seats and interiors will be completed by June 2013 and the inaugural flight is slated for a July 2013 take off.
Check out the pictures of the new interiors here.
