Expliseat Bets Big On Lightweight Seat Adoption With New Factory

HAMBURG—Expliseat is counting on increased production capacity to attract more orders for its lightweight economy seat, which, it claims, offers significant fuel savings over more conventional, heavier seats.

Formed in 2011, Paris-based Expliseat is a young player in the cabin interiors industry and has thus far found 20 carrier customers. Until 2024, it was relying on an unnamed supplier in Toulouse to manufacture its products. The current number of 10,000 TiSeat seats in service may increase sharply in the coming years, following the September 2024 opening of a new factory in Angers, which can produce 32,000 seats annually.

Offering seats to operators in other transportation sectors, such as rail and bus transit, will help keep the facility busy, Antonio Ficca, Expliseat VP strategy, marketing and communications, expects. The company’s Toulouse supplier can also manufacture an extra 9,000 seats per year, if needed, he added.

The Expliseat TiSeat 2V is 30% lighter than its lightest spec-similar competitor, says Ficca. The seat’s carbon fiber structure and titanium joints slash weight to 6 kg per passenger. As a result, fuel consumption is cut 6%, Ficca said, adding that weight represents 97% of a seat's emissions throughout its lifecycle. Moreover, the company estimates that reduced maintenance requirements fulfill the seat’s return on investment in just six months.

While the TiSeat 2V is the lightest option and targets regional turboprops and low-cost carriers, the TiSeat 2X features a USB port and a larger tray table, making it more suitable for network carriers. Air France will usher in the TiSeat 2X on its Embraer 190s later this year.