New double-decker seat design on planes would let all passengers lie flat in economy

This innovative design could be the answer to maintaining social distance on a crowded aeroplane. 

Flying in economy has been getting increasingly uncomfortable, as airlines continue to squeeze in extra seats to make money. 

But a new design by a start-up company could transform air travel by creating two tiers of seating inside the cabin – allowing each passenger to have a lie-flat seat, The Sun reported.

It comes in response to the coronavirus pandemic, where maintaining a social distance of 1.5 metres is now needed in aeroplanes and other enclosed areas.

Start-up company Zephyr Aerospace came up with the plans to give passengers more space, which will be key to getting travellers back in the air following the coronavirus pandemic.

The seats would be built in rows of 2-4-2 across the cabin, so airlines wouldn't have to reduce the number of passengers on each plane.

The designer Jeffrey O’Neill told CNN that he came up with the idea after taking a long-haul flight to Singapore.

I'm on probably the best rated airline in the world, and I'm getting wonderful service and the food is edible, but I can't sleep, he said.

[It was] really uncomfortable. Why is it so difficult to find an affordable way to lie flat on a flight that's 19 hours?'

Mr O’Neill then came up with the idea of fitting a second row of seats where the overhead cabins are currently.

We basically retrofitted a whole other seat on top of another, so it's essentially two levels, he said.

It's not as tall off the ground as people might imagine, it's only four and a half feet off the ground from the entry point to the lower seat to the upper seat.

It is not clear whether the overhead storage would be replaced elsewhere in the cabin, so that passengers could continue to bring hand luggage with them on-board.

Allowing all passengers to recline flat would kerb the arguments that regularly flare up between passengers when a person goes to push their seat back.