Immenstaad, 18 September 2026 – Premium Economy began as a recliner with more pitch. Today, the fixed-shell seat is the standard in this class. Raffael Rogg, Group CEO of the ZIM Aircraft Seating Group, on a change in design philosophy and what it means for cabin planning and retrofit.
The recliner reaches its limit
In its early days, Premium Economy was an Economy seat with more pitch and a wider seat pan. Comfort was defined by the recline angle. The problem with this logic: every degree of recline comes at the expense of living space in the row behind. Anyone who wanted more comfort had to add pitch – and paid for it with seat count.
The fixed shell moves the motion inward
The fixed-shell seat turns the principle around. The fixed backrest shell forms an envelope within which the passenger moves. The kinematics take place inside this shell; the outer contour remains unchanged. The living space of the row behind therefore no longer depends on the position of the passenger in front. Pre-recline as well as the seating and resting positions are created within the passenger's own area.
Specifically, in our ZP610 this means:
• Preservation of personal space: The usable living space remains unchanged, even when the passenger in front adjusts the backrest.
• Uninterrupted productivity: Working on a laptop, eating, reading and entertainment remain comfortable throughout the entire flight.
• More privacy: The fixed-shell architecture creates a clearly delimited and protected personal environment.
• Fewer disturbances between passengers: Adjustments do not extend into neighbouring passengers' space. This eliminates one of the most common causes of dissatisfaction on board.
• Consistent premium comfort: Comfort and usability are independent of the recline position of the surrounding seats.
• Product differentiation: The result is a modern Premium Economy experience that visibly closes the gap between Economy and Business Class.
For long-haul operations, this creates a passenger experience that is more reliably plannable and more considerate in everyday use than the classic recliner. The airline offers a Business-Class-inspired sense of personal space – at the economics and cabin efficiency of a Premium Economy product.
What this means for cabin planning
For the airline, this changes the calculation. Comfort is no longer a function of pitch but of design. The LOPA remains untouched, and so does the seat count. In retrofit, this is decisive: a cabin upgrade that does not change the seat-track occupancy is planned faster, certified faster and installed faster. There is a further point that is often overlooked in tenders: because the outer contour is fixed by design, large, fully integrated IFE displays can be accommodated without special solutions – in a recliner, seat structure and adjustment mechanism regularly limit the options here.
Why we stay mechanical
We solve the kinematics of the ZP610 mechanically. This saves weight, requires no power supply at each seat and reduces the probability of failure in scheduled service. The fixed shell has a double effect: it increases structural stability and reduces the mechanical stress that conventional recliner mechanisms are subjected to over tens of thousands of adjustment cycles – a factor also for the risk of damage to the IFE. With a replacement cycle of around eight years, what counts is not the number of functions but how many of them still work at the end.
Conclusion
The recliner has become a product in its own right. Premium Economy closes the gap between Economy and Business Class – but it no longer does so by upgrading an Economy design, but through a design logic of its own. That is precisely the difference: the fixed-shell seat borrows the sense of space of Business Class without taking on its space requirement. That makes it the core of this cabin class.
