Alejandro Núñez Vicente is 1,88 meters tall and spent years enduring uncomfortable flights without being able to stretch his legs. At 23, his solution was to redesign the airplane seat as a two-level bunk: one row of passengers lying down above, with a beam indicating how much ceiling space remains above them, and another row below, so close to the neighbor’s knees that even he admits it can feel claustrophobic.
The prototype uses seats recycled from 1995, has a reinforced ladder for climbing to the upper level, and stores luggage beneath the seat in front. At the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, airline executives and even curious visitors who traveled there just to lie down in it tried it out. Núñez Vicente insists that he is not trying to cram more people onto the plane, although he acknowledges that several airlines are already urging him to increase capacity with this design.
His father drove 2.200 kilometers with the prototype from Madrid to Germany so that it could arrive at the trade fair. Certification is still pending, and there is no guarantee that any airline will install it, but he already imagines the day when people will thank him for breaking with the traditional economy class.
