Airbus' modular concept plane

[IAmAndre]

Well I almost never post in this section, but this video I watched this morning has been stuck in my mind all day.

The Verge made a video on this concept : basically they're trying to revolutionize the way we see flights by making it a totally different experience. It's no longer being stuck on a seat with your belt on. Flights would bars, restaurants and even dormitories. This would be possible thanks to a modular concept.

Quote

Airbus imagines these experiences would be priced at the premium/economy levels

This could definitely be the next step of air travel. This still has to be allowed by the authorities though.

I'm not sure why some guy who worked on the Moto Z is involved in this project...

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

I'm not entirely sold on this. It's some clever engineering. But in practice, if airlines wanted a restaurant or bar for all passengers to enjoy, it would've been done already on something like the A380. But as of right now, passengers only in Business class and up even have a chance for that sort of luxury. It could help reduce times during D checks by just switching out pods instead of tearing down the entire cabin. But as for extra luxuries for the regular traveller, this is only a dream.

[IAmAndre]

7 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I'm not entirely sold on this. It's some clever engineering. But in practice, if airlines wanted a restaurant or bar for all passengers to enjoy, it would've been done already on something like the A380. But as of right now, passengers only in Business class and up even have a chance for that sort of luxury. It could help reduce times during D checks by just switching out pods instead of tearing down the entire cabin. But as for extra luxuries for the regular traveller, this is only a dream.

Well as they say their goal is to make it profitable for flight companies. That's the whole point of the modular concept. Otherwise it does make sense to keep such features for business classes only.

[CommandMan7]

This won't ever happen, at least at economy or lower-end premium prices.

 

The reason why air travel is as cramped as it is is because floor real estate is the number 1 determination of how an airline determines how to design the airplane seating and how much to charge for it. If a thing causes less people per area, it will raise prices. Highly recommend people watch this video on why:

 

 

 

[Energycore]

24 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I'm not entirely sold on this. It's some clever engineering. But in practice, if airlines wanted a restaurant or bar for all passengers to enjoy, it would've been done already on something like the A380. But as of right now, passengers only in Business class and up even have a chance for that sort of luxury. It could help reduce times during D checks by just switching out pods instead of tearing down the entire cabin. But as for extra luxuries for the regular traveller, this is only a dream.

Actually switching modules for maintenance is really clever - increases uptime of the plane while costing a bit in complexity

[pinksnowmanshandle]

I like the flying cruise ship idea but it's not likely to come to lower cabins

[captain_to_fire]

One question, would this make air travel cheaper? Direct flight to Honolulu is expensive.

[NumLock21]

IMO having people walking constantly around you will be kind of annoying. The only place I can see this work is on their A380s, where there upper level is just standard airline seats and the lower level, with these modular bar, spa, restaurant, etc.

BTW, you can already take a shower on a plane.

[Nowak]

Unfortunately this'll remain as it is right now, a concept. Also, in-flight spas and private seating have already been done... on an Airbus product, no less. It's called the A380.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

25 minutes ago, Energycore said:

Actually switching modules for maintenance is really clever - increases uptime of the plane while costing a bit in complexity

I didn't say that the maintenance aspect wasn't going to work. It makes a lot of sense because when doing D checks, the entire airplane has to be stripped down to the skeleton. Making the cabin modular means the entire cabin can be taken out and simply replaced with another unit that has already been refurbished after inspections and repairs to the fuselage is complete. That saves time by not having to slowly uninstalling and installing every little piece of interior trim onboard the aircraft.

 

But the whole idea that this is going to bring upon a whole new way a travel is just ridiculous. Even with a plane with massive floor space like the A380, we only see showers, and small bars at max for Business class and upwards. Now they want to have a restaurant onboard an aircraft like the A330? Airlines like Singapore Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, and Scandinavian Airlines have tried flights with all Business class configurations. All of which have been discontinued. Only a couple of flights for national carriers are business class only. 

 

13 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

One question, would this make air travel cheaper? Direct flight to Honolulu is expensive.

Nope. This doesn't affect efficiency or operating costs.

[Energycore]

Just now, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I didn't say that the maintenance aspect wasn't going to work. It makes a lot of sense because when doing D checks, the entire airplane has to be stripped down to the skeleton. Making the cabin modular means the entire cabin can be taken out and simply replaced with another unit that has already been refurbished after inspections and repairs to the fuselage is complete. That saves time by not having to slowly uninstalling and installing every little piece of interior trim onboard the aircraft.

I was agreeing with you lol

 

It's a cool concept, but it's no lightbulb

[captain_to_fire]

22 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Nope. This doesn't affect efficiency or operating costs

Even if most airlines implemented this, this is probably reserved to business class flights. Probably ain't happening to economy class flights anytime soon.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

4 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

Even if most airlines implemented this, this is probably reserved to business class flights. Probably ain't happening to economy class flights anytime soon.

Probably nothing happening to economy at all. 

[captain_to_fire]

Just now, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Probably nothing happening to economy at all. 

Yay to snoring passengers and crying children and people who talk so loud as if they own the plane. 

[mach]

This should be called "daydream" instead of "concept".

It's not going to happen in a million years. Not to economy level like they claimed.

Airlines have always been trying to squeeze more people on a single flight to maximize profit, that's why economy class are so cramped in the first place!

 

[Nowak]

Also, for those of you who wish this could be a real thing... remember that the same company patented a design for a twin-tail trijet nearly a decade ago and nothing's come out of it. As I said before, this is gonna remain a concept forever.

 

although I wouldn't mind if a new trijet design came out

[zMeul]

the way of luxury planes went the way of the dodo

[JediFragger]

At least if the plane crashes those fuckers in First Class will get it first

[JAKEBAB]

This is great and all but i think there are far higher priorities when it comes to flights like, oh i dunno, not losing the fucking plane!

[SpaceGhostC2C]

Expectations...

 

 

... and reality:

 

Spoiler

 

 

Airliners only come to existence if airlines buy them. Can it carry the same/more people with the same/less fuel? Can it feature any of those amenities while at it? That's all you need to answer to know the future of this concept.

 

Also, remember that passengers stuck in their seats is also a safety issue...

Spoiler

 

[System Error Message]

only available for the first/business class but planes arent big enough for the to have the modules needed. Pricing is the most important and not really the experience as profits are the most important. If few can fly for the price compared to many they would go for many as you need traffic to keep going rather than pure price so airlines go for as many as they can push rather than providing a good experience and a high price even if it would be consistent.

 

its a good concept, blimps used to come with restaurants, sleeping cabins and such but blimps stopped being a thing after a few accidents because helium wasnt commonplace. Some blimps even had a propeller plane docked as well. Flights last for a few hours, not enough time for all these luxuries.

[PocketNerd]

We need energy efficiency in Planes to go down first before a Modular system like this will ever become viable.

Or we just need the cost of energy to not be the major factor for flights.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 hour ago, PocketNerd said:

We need energy efficiency in Planes to go down first before a Modular system like this will ever become viable.

Or we just need the cost of energy to not be the major factor for flights.

We do have high energy efficient aircraft: the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. These two aircraft makes it possible to have low demand long haul routes because of their efficiency. The modular system may still be implemented. But the configuration will be no where near the Airbus mock-ups. In fact, it'll most likely be the exact same layout as we have today. It'll most likely only change the way planes are built and maintained. 

 

Fuel realistically doesn't make up much of your ticket. It's the other stuff like crew, maintenance, airport fees, air traffic control fees, taxes, insurance, administrative costs, etc. that drives up the cost of your ticket.

 

[Mihle]

On 12.7.2017 at 5:40 AM, CommandMan7 said:

This won't ever happen, at least at economy or lower-end premium prices.

 

The reason why air travel is as cramped as it is is because floor real estate is the number 1 determination of how an airline determines how to design the airplane seating and how much to charge for it. If a thing causes less people per area, it will raise prices. Highly recommend people watch this video on why:

 

 

 

90% of planes I have used ONLY have economy class. well, 90% of the times I have used a plane, have been inside Europe.