Lie-flat seats in road transportation are not regulated and there are no standards that we can refer to. Therefore, we had to rely on the usual UN-ECE standards for upright seating positions to fulfill our safety requirements in the lying position. This means that we are also exploring new territory for conventional bus seat manufacturers with our project.
The obvious approach would have been to simply modify a super comfortable bus seat (possibly with a footrest and a backrest adjustable up to 45 degrees) and extend it to a horizontal lying position. However, in a row seating arrangement, this would lead to the dilemma that the backrest would intrude into the legroom of the passenger sitting behind.
Inspired by first-class seats in an aircraft, each passenger should have their own extended legroom and fill it themselves with the individually adjustable reclining bed. With this concept, we can ensure that all passengers enjoy the same level of comfort and feel individually at ease even on longer journeys.
This led to the decision to collaborate with the established engineering team from ASI (Airline Service Interiors), a subsidiary of Lantal Textiles AG. We believe that their experience and expertise in the field of long-haul comfort seats are ideal to meet our requirements for comfort and safety. In addition, we feel that we can benefit from the independence and creativity of a new market participant in the bus industry. The necessary overview of regulations and norms for road approval is ensured through cooperation with the DTC (Dynamic Test Center) AG, an accredited testing center for vehicle safety in Biel.
Sometimes we are surprised ourselves that we were successful with our courageous and rather unconventional approach and were able to develop an innovative seating concept for our night coach. Even more so, we are thrilled to soon be able to provide our passengers with a high level of comfort and safety on their journeys.