Until a vaccine is found for COVID-19, flying will look a little different. Italian manufacturer Aviointeriors, for example, has put a couple of new concepts forward.
Their ‘Janus’ seating plan (named after two-faced Janus, the god of Ancient Rome) reverses the position of the centre seat.
This allows for maximuim isolation between passengers seated next to each other.
That’s a concept we can get behind. Perhaps the dreaded middle seat will become a thing of the past?
The Janus plan sees the passengers seated on the side seats, aisle and fuselage, continue to be positioned in the flight direction but the passenger sitting in the centre is facing backwards.
This means the two-faced seat arrangement allows all three passengers to be separated with a shield made of transparent material that isolates them from each other, creating a protective barrier for everyone.
Each passenger has their own space isolated from others, even from people who walk through the aisle.
Each place of the “Janus” seat is surrounded on three sides by a high shield that prevents the breath propagation to occupants of adjacent seats.
Aviointeriors has also suggested a less glamorous style kit-level solution that can be installed on existing seats to make close proximity safer among passengers sharing the same seat.
“Glassafe” is made of transparent material to created “isolated volume” around the passenger in order to avoid or minimise contact and interactions via air between passenger and passenger
Our vote is in for the Janus. It look like a free upgrade!