MERCEDES-BENZ AND LUFTHANSA TO LAUNCH POSH PRIVATE JETS

By: Christian Stan

For more than a century, Mercedes-Benz has the been the go-to purveyor of fine luxury automobiles. Now, the German automaker is stepping to another kind of luxury by teaming up with Lufthansa Technik — the aviation engineer arm of the Lufthansa Group — to design a ultra-posh cabin for private jets.

 

The iconic car designer teamed up with airline Lufthansa Technik, to create an aircraft for VIPs that comes complete with hardwood floors, plush wraparound sofas, reclining white leather seats, and even a double bed.

The concept created by the two companies eliminates the traditional delineation between ceiling, wall, and floor designs. Instead, the interior concept deploys what the companies refer to as a “spiral layout,” which melds the three design elements into a continuous, flowing feature.

On board, “black panels” float in front of the window and are meant to evoke the screen-design of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan. The concept interior is also equipped with Mercedes-Benz Magic Sky technology that can turn the “black panels” from dark to transparent.

Announced this week in Geneva at the 2015 European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE), Mercedes-Benz Style — the company’s non-automotive design firm — and Lufthansa Technik will use the concept to gauge interest from their “discerning customers.”