The Clean Sky 2 Passenger Cabin Demonstrator features biocomposite interior panels plus myriad other components and systems, enabling a full suite of tests, such as those conducted at Fraunhofer facilities (right). Source | Clean Aviation, Leonardo, Fraunhofer
The Pax Cabin Demonstrator — developed under the Clean Sky 2 Regional Aircraft (REG) Integrated Aircraft Demonstrator Platform (IADP) — showcases sustainable, passenger-focused cabin innovations for regional turboprop aircraft, combining lightweight structures, environmentally friendly materials and human-centric design. Results include:
- A weight reduction of 8% for major cabin components, which contributes to long-term fuel savings — up to 22% over a 30-year aircraft lifespan — and direct reduction in CO₂ emissions.
- Successful Integration of eco-friendly, biocomposite panels met stringent aviation flammability and safety standards, offering a low-impact alternative to conventional materials. These panels would reduce 75 megatons of CO₂ emissions over 20 years for next-gen aircraft.
CW reported on this development in 2018. With completion of the Pax Cabin Demonstrator, this program’s success is now reported in Clean Aviation’s June 2025 newsletter. This ground-based test platform simulates the real-world interior environment of a regional turboprop aircraft and showcases how future cabins can enhance passenger wellbeing while slashing environmental impact.
“The Passenger Cabin Demonstrator is a full-scale, 7.3-meter-long, 3.4-meter-diameter fuselage barrel, equipped with major structural elements including: composite-stiffened panels, frames, pressure bulkheads, window frames and doors, as well as passenger and cargo floor grids,” explains Vittorio Ascione, Clean Sky 2 – REG IADP project manager at the Aircraft Division of Leonardo (Rome, Italy), the topic manager for this project. “The [Pax Cabin] Demonstrator is fitted with five seats per row, and though it was structurally similar to the Fuselage Structural Demonstrator, this one went further: it included interior components and systems, making it much more complete and complex.”
The fully integrated interiors and systems were also designed using a human-centric approach, focusing on increasing comfort through noise and vibration reduction while applying environmentally friendly materials to reduce cabin weight and minimize emissions.