This Business Jet’s Cabin Is Like Flying Around the World in Your Own Art Gallery
French artist Cyril Kongo promises to break through the traditional corporate look of most business-jet interiors by creating a colorful, vibrant cabin that can be customized for each client. Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) displayed a series of renderings by Kongo that could transform the way—at least for a few clients—jet interiors look. The interior will be applied to the ACJ220.
“It’s definitely going out of my comfort zone,” said Kongo, showing off the new design at a press event during the Monaco Yacht Show. “I was able to keep my graphic vocabulary but use it on new fabrics and materials.”
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The bright, whimsical artwork runs throughout the cabin, from the carpets to hand-painted cabinets, to a comforter on the king-sized bed. “I take my inspiration from color, lines and harmony,” said Kongo. “They’re all about happiness and joy. Many designers don’t want to make a cabin in full color.”
Courtesy ACJ
“It was interesting for us to find the right balance,” said Benoit Defforge, ACJ president, at the press conference. “We’ve found that the interior design for many business jets is very quiet these days, so we wanted to shake up the industry a bit.”
Kongo, who began as a graffiti artist, employs calligraphic abstraction in fluid lines and bright hues in his work. “Every interior will be customized since I’ll be working with owners on the design,” he told Robb Report. “No two will be the same.”
Launched in 2020, the ACJ220 has gained six orders for new jets, though a Kongo interior has yet to be announced. The wide-body design has 785 square feet of floor space, with six zones for up to 19 passengers. It will have a range of 5,650 nautical miles, with flight times up to 12 hours. ACJ said the first aircraft would enter service in 2023.
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