Entry phase begins in eight categories for 2020’s renowned Crystal Cabin Awards.

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Hamburg, 10 September 2019: In the coming year, for the fourteenth time, the Crystal Cabin Award Association will be honouring the best ideas for aircraft cabins. The prize, an initiative initiated by Hamburg Aviation and presented in the Chamber of Commerce, reveals what we as passengers may soon encounter on board. In 2019, the coveted trophies were taken home by victors including Airbus, Collins Aerospace and United Airlines. Last year saw a record 100 applications from 22 countries. The submission phase for the 2020 Crystal Cabin Award runs until 18 October at www.crystal-cabin-award.com. The awards ceremony, as always, will take place as part of the Aircraft Interiors Expo (31 March – 2 April 2020) in Hamburg.

The innovations honoured with Crystal Cabin Award trophies give an insight into how aircraft cabins could soon be equipped. The prize is considered the industry’s leading accolade worldwide. As one of the program highlights of the leading trade fair for aircraft cabins, the Aircraft Interiors Expo (31 March – 2 April 2020), the award ceremony takes place on the evening of 31 March 2020 in the trading floor hall of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. After a brilliant kick-off in 2019, with speakers such as Emirates CEO Sir Tim Clark, the audience will be expecting a top-class programme this time, too. Prizewinning innovations from the last awards included the “Lower Deck Pax Experience” from Airbus, with flexible compartments allowing the aircraft cargo area to be used for passengers for the first time, the “Flex Duet” kiosk from Collins Aerospace, offering snacks and drinks during the flight, and “Entertainment for All”, an in-flight entertainment system providing barrier-free accessibility for the disabled from United Airlines.

And just recently, on 9 September 2019, a special category for “Best Customer Journey Experience” was presented as part of the APEX Awards in Los Angeles. This special prize was outside of the regular submission phase for the Crystal Cabin Awards. Airbus prevailed with the “Connected Experience” for the aircraft cabin.

Watched the world over

The three finalists in each category, chosen by a jury of 27 experts, get to present their concepts to leading industry representatives at the Final Viewing. A victory at the Crystal Cabin Award represents unmistakeable recognition by the global community of specialists in the sector. There is no doubt about the attraction of this honour, and not just for newcomers in the annual University category.

“The competition honours clever, ground-breaking innovations in cabin fittings, promoting comfort and technological process in air travel,” comments Hamburg’s Governing Mayor, Dr Peter Tschentscher, reinforcing the appeal of this industry award — an award that winner United Airlines currently boasts of on its flights around the world.


An overview of the 8 Crystal Cabin Award categories:

Cabin Concepts
This category honours integrated Cabin Concepts already in deployment or just short of market-readiness. It is aimed at manufacturers, design firms and airlines.

Cabin Systems
The Cabin Systems category brings together all those innovative products that deliver a significant benefit in terms of operation and efficiency to the aircraft operator (e.g. airline). Examples include galleys, toilet systems, trolleys, air conditioning and seats, characterised primarily from an efficiency perspective incorporating weight and use of space.

In-flight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC)    
This category encompasses the most rapidly growing group of products in the aviation industry: solutions for uninterrupted internet connectivity above the clouds along with in-flight entertainment concepts that incorporate the simple use of a passenger’s own smartphone or tablet.

Greener Cabin, Health, Safety and Environment
Entrants to this category have to demonstrate that their product or concept achieves a significant reduction in environmental impact or a significant increase in wellbeing and/or safety standards for passengers, freight or live cargo.

Material & Components
This category awards new materials for the cabin, along with means of using them, to reduce costs and increase user-friendliness.

Passenger Comfort Hardware
This category reflects the increasing expectations for passenger comfort. It is oriented at products that produce a significant increase in comfort for individual passengers or a passenger group. Examples include seats, baggage lockers and first class modules.

University
The University category provides students with the opportunity to present their trailblazing products and ideas for the aircraft cabin to industry specialists and the general public.

Visionary Concepts
This category rewards concepts for the aircraft cabin of the future. Above all, it is aimed at engineering and design studies that show what air travel could look like tomorrow.

The entry form, an overview of the winners in 2019 and a more thorough explanation of all categories in the Crystal Cabin Award can be found online at www.crystal-cabin-award.com.

Entries may be submitted until 18 October. For all the winners and highlights of the 2019 awards ceremony, made available by APEX Media and Burrana:
www.youtube.com/watch


Respected industry award — respected industry support

The Crystal Cabin Award stands for the idea of an independent industry platform to promote and honour innovations in global aviation. The list of sponsors of the Crystal Cabin Awards reads like a Who’s Who of the international aviation industry: Airbus, Aircraft Cabin Management, Aircraft Interiors Expo (Reed Exhibitions), Aircraft Interiors International Magazine, AIME 2020 - Aircraft Interiors Middle East, Ameco Beijing, APEX, Bluebox Aviation Systems LTD., The Boeing Company, Boltaron Inc. – A SIMONA Company, BURRANA, Collins Aerospace, DIEHL Aviation, FERCHAU AVIATION Division, FIT AG – Additive Manufacturing Group, Flightchic, Flightglobal, Future Travel Experience, HAECO Cabin Solutions, Inflight Magazine, Jetliner Cabins, jetlite, Lufthansa Technik AG, NORDAM, Panasonic, RECARO, Runway Girl Network, SEKISUI SPI, tesa SE and Vartan Aviation Group.

You too can join the list of sponsors and supporters of the Crystal Cabin Award. Information on sponsoring opportunities and packages is available from Carmen Krause: carmen.krause@crystal-cabin-award.com

About the Crystal Cabin Award
The Crystal Cabin Award is THE international prize for innovation in the aircraft cabin. A high-calibre jury made up of renowned academics, engineers, specialist journalists and airline and aircraft manufacturer representatives comes together under the slogan “Let your ideas take off” to honour extraordinary cabin concepts and products. The competition was launched by Hamburg Aviation and is organised by the Crystal Cabin Award Association. This unique honour has been presented at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg every year since 2007. The trophies have become a seal of quality, known and coveted around the world.

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