Adam Challenor, technical director at Mirus, explains his firm’s quest to remove heft from the aircraft cabin. As our industry takes greater steps in becoming more sustainable, we understand that our single greatest contribution is the reduction of seat weight. This has been our objective at Mirus since our inception, and we are now seeing the tangible results of our efforts.

In 2018, AirAsia began upgrading its cabins with our flagship Hawk seat, a class-leading seat in terms of enabling cabin densification and being lightweight. Combined, we have saved these aircrafts approximately 413 tonnes of CO2 per year and a colossal 132,000kg of fuel – therefore both a significant environmental impact and cost saving for the airline.  Our partnership continues as all new AirAsia A321neos delivered from Airbus will feature these more environmentally friendly seats.

AMBITIOUS PROJECT
The Hawk paved the way for an even more ambitious project – the Kestrel. Our lightest seat of all, Kestrel weighs just 7kg – shattering the 7.5kg fully dressed barrier and making the seat a clear leader in its class, and one of the lightest on the market.  Being permanently reclined at almost the full recline level of a typical recline seat, Kestrel offers the comfort of a reclining seat throughout the flight but without the maintenance burden, cost and weight of the reclining mechanism. Compared to a typical recline seat on a typical single aisle aircraft, installing Kestrel will save around 750kg of weight per aircraft, and over 100kg per aircraft compared to alternative lightweight seat offerings.

The benefits of Kestrel are wide-ranging – not only for the notable weight-saving opportunities, but also its light part count. All key parts are easily replaceable, and when the seat is at the end of life, we work diligently to ensure that all constituent components and materials can be separated for recycling and reuse.

DURABILITY
Durability is another key way aircraft seating can play its part in increasing efficiency and reducing environmental impact. A product with a longer life cycle can reduce the need for repairs and replacements. Mirus provides a long- lasting aftercare service and an extended warranty, which includes options for lifetime care on its products. Typically, this means that our customers have their investment returned within five to six years of purchase, which is around half of the typical lifetime of the seat.

One of the easiest and most efficient steps airlines can take to reduce their weight is to look at cabin reductions – many older seats have heavy electronic components for IFE which is a rapidly diminishing necessity in today’s world where travellers rely on their own personal electronic devices for entertainment during the fight. For Kestrel, clunky IFE has been replaced with a sleek, elasticised PED holder, illustrating our commitment to reducing weight in every element of the seat.

Beyond that, as a business we continue to invest in advanced material technologies, enabling a reduction in total plastic usage and instead utilising a variety of environmentally friendly foams and seat cover materials, including wool fabrics and sustainable leather alternatives.

AirAsia is just one example of our contribution to reducing emissions, and with a range of new airlines installing Mirus seats in 2023 and our Kestrel seat to be certified by the end of the year, we look forward to continuing our journey toward a greener future.

TESTING TIMES
Our dynamic test sled, designed for high-impact testing, is the most technologically advanced available and eradicates the long wait times that comes with having to outsource testing. Where previously, test failure would delay us by weeks or even months, we are now able to apply our learnings and get our product back on the sled the very next day for re-testing.

Now, we see test failure as an opportunity to learn and improve, which we can do more rapidly and efficiently than ever. The improvements made to the seat are also thanks to the work of a team of engineers and designers that have worked efficiently and strategically to exceed even our own weight-saving targets. As a result, Kestrel is currently being certified for the Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737 aircraft and will be available for delivery at the end of 2023.

During its concept launch at AIX 2022, the Kestrel piqued the interest of airlines across the board, with many mid-to-long-range carriers seeking a similar product for their aircrafts. This led us to create the Falcon, intended to plug a gap for lightweight seats in that market. Weighing 11kg per passenger fully dressed and pitched at 29”-32” with a 15 degree recline, the design will be available in Q4 2024.

With two new seats and the launch of our in-house testing facility, M-TEST, we’ve grown from a startup to a serious player in the aircraft seating space, with M-TEST being a message of intent from us to the OEMs that we are here to stay and will continue to innovate. Our presence at AIX was larger than ever this year, bringing with it a stellar reception to our products. We are immensely proud of what we have already achieved as a business, but we realise that the work never stops and striving to always improve our offering is paramount.