Hundreds of people, tons of material, soaring above the clouds courtesy of fuel, air and engineering; an airliner is the miraculous sum of many complex systems. Focusing on just one, airplane interior design and materials, has been a business success for Lantal Textiles, Langenthal, Switzerland. The company makes lightweight textiles, carpets, leathers and pneumatic seat cushions that can reduce the weight of furnishings up to 32 percent over conventional materials. A lighter plane uses less fuel and emits less carbon dioxide (CO2), providing cost-savings and environmental benefits to airlines.

Lantal equipped all business and first-class seats of the SWISS long-haul fleet with the air-filled pneumatic seat cushions in April 2009, and provided Finnair with fabrics for redesigned cabins of four Airbus A330 aircraft that will be delivered by the end of 2009. Swiss designer Christine Lüdeke worked with Lantal on restyled Finnair interiors, which included seat textiles, carpet, blinds, wall panel surfaces and Scenario cabin lighting that “simulates the daily rhythm of the sun’s movement, which makes it easier for passengers to adapt to new time zones even before they leave the aircraft,” says Sari Fairchild, director of service product development at Finnair. For more information, visit www.lantal.com.