Plenty of interesting ideas along with high quality products and concepts have made it to the shortlist for the Crystal Cabin Award 2012.
Hamburg, 11 January, 2012 – “It is surprising to see that, after so many years of aircraft interior innovations, very interesting new innovations are still being developed and submitted,” declares a delighted Peter Vink, from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. As Chairman of the Judging Panel, he has just viewed every single entry received for this year’s Crystal Cabin Award, working together with three other members of the Judging Panel and the President of the Crystal Cabin Award Association, Walter Birkhan. The viewing includes ensuring that entries fulfill the requirements for participation. The preselection committee has accepted 58 submissions from ten nations for the international competition, the Oscar in the world of aircraft interiors. The finalists will be announced at the end of February, after the 23 experts in the Judging Panel have evaluated each of the accepted entries. The six trophies will be presented, as they have been for six years, in association with the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, on 27 March, 2012.
“This year’s submissions include some very interesting and high quality innovations which one hopes to see implemented in aircraft,” says Walter Birkhan. Peter Vink is most of all surprised by the ideas that further improve comfort, even though today’s standards are already extremely high. One study which the Professor at Delft University of Technology has conducted showed that the experience of comfort in newer aircraft has risen from 6.2 to 7.8 on a scale from 0 to 10. “New ideas have been submitted to the Crystal Cabin Award which could increase the comfort to an even higher level,” according to Vink. “And there are many other submissions, focussing on, for instance, efficiency, weight reduction and passenger experience. They range from small physical details to new systems for wireless in-flight entertainment, from integrated air conditioning to special features for persons with reduced mobility.”
The Aviation Cluster Hamburg Metropolitan Region, which launched the competition six years ago and established the Crystal Cabin Award e.V., reports a great number of submissions, particularly in the new categories “Premium Class Products” and “Visionary Concepts”. But the extended categories of “Passenger Comfort” and “Industrial Design and www.crystal-cabin-award.com 2/2 Technical Concepts”, along with the established categories, “Greener Cabin, Health and Safety” and “Material and Components”, have also proven very popular.
This year, the coveted trophies will be awarded in six different categories. For each category, three finalists are nominated and will be presented in the Crystal Cabin Award Gallery at the Aircraft Interiors Expo. This leading trade fair for aircraft interior fitting will take place from 27 to 29 March this year, as always at the Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH (HMC) fairgrounds.
Note: A list of all accepted submissions is available on the homepage at www.crystal-cabin-award.com.
Text and photos/illustrations are available for each product and concept upon request. So far, the following sponsors have committed to the Crystal Cabin Award 2012: Airbus, the Aircraft Interiors Expo trade fair (Reed Exhibitions), Aircraft Interiors International Magazine, Bishop GmbH, DIEHL Aerosystems Holding GmbH, FERCHAU AVIATION Division, HTG Media Hamburg, Jetliner Cabins and ZODIAC AEROSPACE. About the Crystal Cabin Award The Crystal Cabin Award is the only international prize for innovations in the field of aircraft cabins. A high-calibre jury made up of renowned academics, engineers, specialist journalists and airline and aircraft manufacturer representatives comes together under the slogan “Let your ideas take off” to honour unusual cabin concepts and products.
The competition was launched by the Aviation Cluster Hamburg Metropolitan Region and is organised by the Crystal Cabin Award Association. The award, to date the only one of its kind, has been presented during the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg every year since 2007. The trophies have become a seal of quality, known and coveted around the world.
Press Contact: Kirstin Rüther Aviation Cluster Hamburg Metropolitan Region Crystal Cabin Award Tel. : +49 (0)40 / 22 70 19 – 87 Mobile: +49 (0)170 / 23 666 22 kirstin.ruether@hamburg-aviation.com