By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Airlines are making efforts to make cabins as good as possible with various up-to-date facilities and amenities so that passengers can travel in comfort.

Such effort has been continued since airplanes had a separate space from the cockpit and began carrying passengers.

Charles W. Furnas from Ohio was the first plane passenger. On May 14, 1908, he flew for 29 seconds on the Wright Flyer 3 piloted by Wilbur Wright.

British monoplane Avro F was the first plane that operated a cabin. In May 1912, it carried passengers in the cabin which was separated from the cockpit and had windows.

At that time, most of such passenger planes were single-motored or double-motored. In April 1913, Russian-American Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky developed the first four-engine plane, bringing in the era of large-sized airplanes.

The plane had a comparatively large and luxurious cabin that could accommodate seven passengers and two cabin crew and was also equipped with four chairs made of wisteria, a sofa, a table, lavatory, and a balcony in front of the cockpit.

At the beginning of the air travel era, seats were arranged in a row on each side of the fuselage, with passengers seated facing each other, like subway carriages.

Planes first had seats made of wisteria to reduce weight, but later leather chairs were used.

About a century later, seats these days are made of an aluminum frame and cushion. Seats on up-to-date planes are also equipped with audio and video on demand (AVOD) systems, providing various movies, music, games and other programs.

In 1920s and 1930s, there was no classification of seats, as planes were luxury transportation that only the rich could afford.

There was a bar served by a bartender on a plane that operated between Paris and London in 1920s. A French carrier set up a berth for the first time in 1928, and American Airlines established 12 beds on the transcontinental routes in 1934.

Such a move providing beds disappeared when passenger jets became popular and airlines needed more seats to carry as many passengers as possible. However, it is being resumed these days, as part of airlines' efforts to provide luxury travel to first and business class passengers.

Several airlines have already adopted 180-degree lie-flat seats on their prestige classes. When beginning operation of the super jumbo double-decker A380 in October, Singapore Airlines set up a real bed, not lie-flat seat, in its exclusive suite on the aircraft.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr