Qantas has announced a unique and customisable cabin lighting design for its upcoming Project Sunrise ultra-long-haul flights. The design, inspired by the colours of the Australian landscape and grounded in science, aims to minimise jetlag and improve customer wellbeing.
The lighting design results from over 150 hours of testing at the Airbus Customer Definition Centre in Hamburg. Representatives from Qantas, Airbus, the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, and the Caon Design Office created and tested hundreds of lighting patterns and sequences in an Airbus A350 cabin mock-up.
Lighting Design to Combat Jetlag
Based on state-of-the-art modelling of circadian rhythms, the Charles Perkins Centre advised the optimal spectral irradiances for light to promote circadian adaption, sleep, and wake. These were implemented and tested throughout the lighting workshops in Hamburg and adjusted for eye comfort and appearance.
The lighting sequence will be tailored to help passengers adjust to their destination time zone before they set foot on the ground. The trial has produced a series of 12 unique lighting scenes specifically for the Project Sunrise flights, including:
- “Awake”: Broad-spectrum, blue-enriched lighting to help customers adjust to the destination time zone and help them stay awake; a softer version is available for the crew to choose based on cabin mood and ambience.
- “Sunset”: An immersive transition from a daytime mode into the dark that moves through the colours of a sunset into a night sky with moonlight and a slow cloud effect to relax customers and prepare them for sleep.
- “Sunrise”: Dynamic lighting adequate for a transition from night to day that replicates an Australian sunrise rolling from the front of the cabin to the rear.
The main cabin will also have welcome and farewell lighting scenes for boarding and disembarking and tailored scenes for taxi, take-off and landing, and sleep.
Wellbeing Zone and First Suites
The Wellbeing Zone will feature soft blue-enriched light, creating a daytime sky effect with slow-moving clouds during ‘the day’ to keep customers awake. It will also feature a moonlight-inspired scene with reflections of water rippling to relax customers who spend time in the Wellbeing Zone while the rest of the cabin is dark.
In a first for the airline, the six enclosed First Suites will offer a fully customisable lighting sequence for their environment. This means customers can choose the time zone they want to be in for the duration of the flight.
Comments from Qantas, Airbus, and Charles Perkins Centre
Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said that the scientifically informed lighting design was another critical component of the preparation for Project Sunrise flights, which will connect Australia’s east coast non-stop with London and New York.
Australian Industrial Designer David Caon said the lighting workshops followed more than five years of cabin design with Qantas to maximise customer wellbeing inflight.
Joost van der Heijden, SVP & Global Head Of Marketing, Airbus Commercial Aircraft, said, “The A350 Airspace cabin has been designed to provide passengers with the best possible flight experience. This includes more personal space, the quietest cabin in the sky, the highest air quality and full connectivity. And the unique and innovative state-of-the-art LED lighting system offers over 16 million colour combinations, enabling airlines to customise their offerings fully.”
Dr Sveta Postnova from the Charles Perkins Centre said, “It’s great to see circadian science being translated into practice.”
The airline revealed the customised lighting schemes at Airbus’ Airspace Customer Showroom in Toulouse, where a life-size mockup of the Project Sunrise Wellbeing Zone is temporarily displayed.
Qantas will be the first airline in the world to offer a purpose-built Wellbeing Zone located between the Premium Economy and Economy cabins. The zone will feature sculpted wall panels and integrated stretch handles, a guided on-screen exercise program, a hydration station, and a range of refreshments.
The Wellbeing Zone was recently recognised at the Crystal Cabin Awards, taking out the ‘Passenger Comfort’ category on the specially designed A350.
