The Aircraft Seat Supplier That Built a Business Designing a Better Premium
Photo Credit: ULTIMATE cabin rendering. STELIA Aerospace
Skift Take
Premium passengers may be fewer in number, but they make up a big chunk of most airlines' revenue. Even when the economy keeps leisure travellers at home, business travellers still have to fly. And the affluent can fly whenever and wherever they please.
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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports that demand for premium seating on aircraft could be slowing, but you wouldn’t know it based on the focus suppliers put on designing lavish seats for these cabins, nor from our obsession with how the 1% flies.
We spoke with STELIA Aerospace, one of the sector’s top three suppliers, which has uniquely focused its business model on premium seating, and learned the company’s secrets for making comfortable, luxurious seats that can be built on time, to spec, and which sell well regardless of momentary market fluctuations.
“The market for the premium [seating] segment is growing at least 6% per year at the moment,” says Claire Nurcombe, Head of Marketing and Cabin Interiors at STELIA. “We can always grow, and we’re always looking to grow, but it’s a very good market and there’s lots of room for us to grow within it.”
STELIA Aerospace is wholly owned by Airbu
