Stelia Aerospace has announced a new version of its Opera business class seat in Hamburg, offering a 30% reduction in weight compared with existing products in the line.
The Opera Essential is described by Alain Bordeau, the company’s vice-president sales, as “the simplest and lightest business class seat today”.
New features on the Opera Essential include a kinematic action on the seat which can take it from the upright to the lie-flat position and back in an ‘effortless’ fashion – “no pushing with the feet”, Bordeau says.
The fully dressed seat weighs in at 143lb (65kg). He says an A321 with 16 current generation Opera seats would be approximately 400kg lighter with the new seat, aided by a 40% reduction in the part count.
The other change with Opera Essential is a move away from a fitted IFE screen. “We believe that traditional IFE systems will soon be obsolete,” declares Thierry Kanengieser, vice-president cabin interior at Stelia. “Weight-wise, the reduction comes to around one tonne, which significantly reduces an aircraft’s carbon footprint.”
Kanengieser notes that not having a screen and the positioning of the seat means increased daylight with two windows per seat. Not having a privacy door on the Opera Essential adds further weight reduction. “We believe that the best LOPA (location of passenger accommodations) with this seat will provide natural privacy,” he says.
The company says the Opera Essential is ready to go and can be delivered within 24 months. No launch customer has been announced but Stelia reports that it is in talks with an Airbus A330 operator.
