It’s been a while coming, so we’re delighted finally to be able to lift the lid on what is easily the largest project for the team at Factorydesign.  It all started back in 2008 when Etihad Airways embarked on a search for a leading design agency partner to design the future cabin interiors for their new fleet of A380 (and latterly B787) aircraft.

Etihad Airways stated its ambition to be the ‘Best airline in the World’ and outlined a vision for the project that would build on their success and continue to redefine airline travel.  This meant that the airline wanted to disrupt the status quo in the industry and create a unique Guest experience that will reflect the airline’s next phase of brand maturity and the exciting vision of Abu Dhabi.

After a global pitch process (seat-of-the-pants stuff for everyone) Etihad Airways believed that no single agency could support and deliver the vision so they asked a number of agencies to work together as a group to deliver their challenging ambition.  So Factorydesign combined with two other design agencies, Acumen Design and Honour Branding, and the collective called EDC was born – the shorthand for the Etihad Design Consortium.

Factorydesign were tasked with defining and designing the passenger experience and cabin interior elements across all classes, such as galleys, lavatories and passenger destination zones, with Acumen to design the onboard seating for first, business and economy class, with Honour Branding in place to coordinate the project across the EDC and manage the interface with Etihad Airways.

As the cabin interior products emerged Factorydesign and Honour, together Keith Yates, were commissioned to work closely together to re-define and design the onboard Guest experience, which included the new catering uplift and onboard service offer.

The project began with an extensive and unique piece of customer research, the Etihad Big Talks in cities around the world. The EDC partnered with Promise Communispace, leaders in co-creation, to put the customer at the very heart of the innovation process.  The research output created a vast number of ideas that were categorised into seven key customer insight territories. These territories helped to set the briefs and the strategic vision for the new onboard products and services.

EDC were initially tasked with developing an overall vision for the aircraft and were asked to build on the airline’s successful ‘Inspired Service’, which was informed by some of the world’s best hotel and hospitality experiences. The vision created was to bring the individuality and exclusivity of a ‘Luxury Boutique hotel experience – that embraced Arabian modernism’.

Every aspect of the Guest experience and cabin interior was explored, generating a large volume of concepts – our office looked like an explosion at a paper factory!

The initial concepts were developed into physical full size mock-ups and were tested with customers to help evaluate and narrow down the options.  EDC then developed the preferred concepts and built a partial full scale mock up of the Upper deck A380 and an entrance area on the main deck, at a secret location in a warehouse near Heathrow Airport, which later became the innovation lab for development meetings and concept testing.

Through 2011 / 2012 the EDC developed the concepts and began to interact with Airbus and the chosen vendors to understand the technical interfaces of the new concepts into the aircraft, supporting the airline through key design and technical milestones.  During this time work also started on translating the A380 product vision across the B787 Dreamliner and adapting the products to meet the challenging constraints of the new catalogue aircraft.  This resulted in a new First Class suite product with a forward and aft configuration, enabling the width of the seat to be increased and create a unique ‘joggled’ aisle configuration.

We have worked closely over the last two years with the supplier base to finalise the technical details of each element, from where the bulbs go to the type of screws and hinges to use. This has ensured that we keep the design intent on track through the complex and time consuming process of taking the idea through to production.

As the designs became more defined the mock-ups were updated to reflect the final product.  The A380 and B787 cabin section mockups were transported to Abu Dhabi and now sit at the heart of the airline’s new Innovation Centre, which will serve as a showcase and training facility for all staff and an innovation lab for what comes next.

And so it is that Etihad Airways, the National Airline of the United Arab Emirates is set to raise the benchmark of airline travel with the launch of the worlds most highly-customised cabin interiors for the A380 and B787 Dreamliner fleets.  Both aircraft design programmes have been undertaken simultaneously by Etihad Airways and the EDC, and represent the single biggest commitment to cabin interior and product design made by any airline in the world.

In the pursuit of excellence every aspect of every class has been redefined in terms of delivering a remarkable guest experience.  Ground breaking innovation is evident in all elements of the cabin interiors spanning unique configurations, to revolutionary seat designs, innovative custom galleys and lavatories through to dedicated spaces and zones for passengers to enjoy.  A determination to challenge the paradigm in every detail has required manufacturers to deliver products, which defy convention creating a new benchmark in aviation industry standards.

Etihad’s new A380 and B787 aircraft will herald a variety of ‘new to market’ design solutions including a VIP cabin called ‘The Residence’ which includes a dedicated en-suite shower and separate bedroom, the world’s first wide bodied single aisle First Class cabin with individual hotel bedroom ‘apartments’ with separate bed and vanity unit, an innovative Business Studio will be one of the largest in its class, highly-customised galleys and lighting, and dedicated customer spaces with a large welcoming Lobby Lounge for premium customers.