These 22 clever aircraft innovations are the finalists of the Crystal Cabin Awards

This week, global media will descend to Hamburg, northern Germany, for the 2025 Aircraft Interior Expo. Opening from April 8th to April 10th, AIX is one of the most important events of the year for individuals and businesses involved in the airplane interior business. This is exemplified by the fact that the Crystal Cabin Awards ceremony is taking place tomorrow.

The Crystal Cabin Awards “celebrate the best technologies and concepts that take the passenger experience to the next level” and “Recognise game-changing advances that will shape the future of air travel comfort, efficiency and sustainability.” Earlier this year, 22 finalist candidates were announced for the ceremony. Its major runners and riders explore in detail before winning the award.

The important day

Aircraft interiors may be seen as a relatively niche aspect of the aviation industry, but they play a very important role when it comes to leaving a lasting impression on airline passengers. As such, major airlines around the world take aircraft composition very seriously, with some winning the “Judges Choice: Airline Innovation” awards. These airlines include:

Air France – New Embreer E190 Cabin. Air India – Vista Ife system. Cathay Pacific – Boeing 777-300er's custom-made gallery space. United Airlines – A new digital platform known as “United's Onboard Digital Experience.”

Other categories are also home to all normal suspects, as far as cabin innovation is concerned. In fact, in the area of ​​Cabin Technik, a new category at the 2025 Crystal Cabin Awards, Lufthansa Technik has been a finalist with the “Hidden TouchDisplay” customizable touch panel. It competes with Collins Aerospace's “Galley” and Deal Airlines' “Edecor.”

Emphasises comfort and connectivity

Passenger comfort is also located in the front and center of this year's Crystal Cabin Awards, with another category dedicated to recognizing development in this area. Airbus is finalised in this section along with long distance ergonomics for Comfort Motion Global's “Healthy Moving Seat” for the A220's “airspace” cabin. Cathay Pacific's Aria Suite IFE system is another candidate.

In recent years, in-flight connectivity has also become an increasingly important part of the modern passenger experience. With this in mind, Crystal Cabin Awards has a category exclusively for “IFEC and Digital Services.” Safran's “connected interior” system autonomously transfers operational data with captions and transfers across cabin equipment, providing a fully digitized, renovated maintenance solution. ”

Safran's main rivals in the list of candidates in this category include Lufthansa Technik. LufthansaTechnik, in collaboration with Satcom Direct and Idair, has devised an “integrated content delivery system” for VIP passengers aboard the Boeing 737s. Meanwhile, Thales Avionics' 360Stream technology was also a finalist, “dedicated to providing the same standard seamless content delivery as experienced on the ground.”

Other important categories

In terms of sustainability, Boeing was a finalist for collaborations with Adient Aerospace, Botanyweaving and Lanzatech with a system that “transforms carbon emissions into sustainable fabric for the aircraft interior industry.” It competes with the Eco Bin of Diehl Aviation, a recyclable storage compartment, and ejects the “Ecoprint Refoam” seat foam stack in aircraft seats.

Diehl Aviation is also a step further in terms of accessibility, and is also listed in the category “Space³” technology, which helps wheelchair users use aircraft bathrooms while saving 80 kg. The ARIA suite competes with Cathay Pacific, which has made it easier to access wheelchairs, and Collins Aerospace's “Prime+” platform for wheelchair users.

This year's Crystal Cabin Awards also has a dedicated category for collaboration between universities and airlines. This highlights technologies such as the Madrid-based University of Diseño, Innovacióny Tecnología, and Iberia's “autonomous in-flight disinfection system.” The system features robotics technology to clean the floor with each use, but competes as follows:

Tongji University and Boeing – Ultra-lightweight display system. Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and Diel Airlines – Single Aisle Bathroom Door 1.