Projects

To support the arrival of flydubai’s latest, cutting-edge aircraft, JPA created a holistic user experience which reflects the growing maturity of the airline. 

The cabin is based around a uniquely customised Thompson Vantage seat, and a state of the art economy seat by Recaro. A lie-flat Business Class seat is rarely seen on a narrow body, but with flights of up to 7 hours it gives travellers the option to use their time however they wish. It’s also great for those who may be connecting with other long flights. 

JPA Design’s team also addressed all soft furnishings, including curtains and carpets, serviceware, bulkheads, lighting customisation and the graphic user interface menu for the high specification IFE system.

A unique version of the Business Class seat was designed for flydubai, customised in a smart way to get maximum benefit for their particular passenger demogrpahic. For example, JPA re-profiled the curved shell of the seat to give higher levels of privacy and to create a more balanced aesthetic to the cabin. Elsewhere, the smart ethos continues; subtle, pragmatic tweaks where it makes sense and larger design changes where they deliver maximum impact to the passenger.

The console area in Business Class has been cleverly designed and extended to create greater stowage options, while the single-leaf tray table is large and stable for both dining and working. Personal lighting can be adjusted easily from the illuminated panel, while universal power points, located at the front of the seat for easy access, allow devices to stay charged throughout the flight.

Retractable hooks for headphones feature on the seat’s console and the dedicated stowage for water bottles is subtly down-lit to give a gentle glow. The MAX business seat has a 15.6-inch 1080p HD built-in touch screen, using low-shine materials on the surround to minimise glare and enhance the viewing experience. As well as being able to use the touch-screen, passengers can use the glass-fronted TV controller that is stowed in a bespoke compartment located in the arm of the seat. The controls are illuminated, allowing for ease of use during the flight, and when not in use, the controller retracts smoothly back into the compartment.

The colours, materials and finishes used throughout the whole cabin take influence from Dubai, a vibrant, thriving and increasingly design-led culture. Great care was taken to create a space which is recognisably flydubai, but without being overtly branded. This avoids the mistake many airlines make – to sit their customers within a flying advert.

Unique seat fabrics are complemented by soft leather headrests, richly textured bespoke carpets underfoot and a seat shell lining in a soft, dark fabric, all helping to present the Business Class cabin as a warm, calm and cosy space to relax, be entertained, dine, work or sleep.

The seat in Economy Class is Recaro’s high spec CL3710, designed to maximise passengers’ comfort. JPA Design carefully developed bespoke seat materials with Bavarian weavers Rohi Stoffe. The seat fabrics mix grey and blue with subtle highlights of orange to reference flydubai’s brand colour palette. Stitching and embroidery details, such as the row of colourful dots, reference flydubai’s newly launched cabin crew uniform. Within the materials, there are links with flydubai’s brand values, such as the connecting lines within the fabric which represent the connections between amazing places and people.

The warm grey leather headrest can be adjusted to a number of positions to support head and neck in the best possible way, and the shapely dual-pocket in the seatback allows passengers to stow small items like a tablet or a mobile phone.

Throughout, our experience allowed us to select only the details that really matter for the user experience.

Every Economy Class seat is fitted with an individual 11.6-inch touchscreen, to offer passengers an exceptional inflight entertainment experience. Passengers can enjoy hours of entertainment on a 1080p HD screen. The seat is also fitted with a high-power USB port for device charging.

JPA created a customised GUI for flydubai which is intuitive and complementary to the materials used on the seats and throughout the cabin, and sympathetic to the bespoke cabin lighting profiles.