New Airplane Airbag Patent Will Keep Premium Class Passengers Safer

If you travel in business or first class, you’re in luck—there’s a new airbag design to protect you.

Thanks to German ingenuity, now first and business class passengers get more than just better food and comfier seats on airplanes; they also get a better chance of surviving a crash. German seat manufacturer Recaro has designed a new premium airplane suite that contains airbags in hidden compartments next to the in-seat entertainment center, The Daily Mail reported.

The airbag seats are designed to minimize injury and risk when there’s a crash that doesn’t completely destroy the plane. The bags themselves have two zones, one that’s fairly wide to meet the passenger’s shoulders, and one above that’s slightly less wide to cushion the head.

Recaro owns the patent for the seats, but does not have a specific airline as its client; in the past, the company has worked with Qantas, Air France, and Jet Blue. The company also builds seats for luxury cars and soccer dugouts.

Luckily for those of us flying in coach, a number of airlines offer seatbelt airbag systems for everyone on the flight—in 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported airbags on 70 airlines, totaling about 50,000 seats. Cathay Pacific and Air France-KLM have been most proactive in installing seatbelt airbags throughout the entire economy cabin rather than relegating them to higher classes, exit rows, and bulkhead seats.

But while the Wall Street Journal notes that inclusion of airbags has made seat customization easier, passengers with babies on their laps face a more significant risk of injury to both the adult and the child. Some airlines have introduced separate restraint systems for children in response to the increased danger.

[Image: Recaro Aircraft Seating]