Over the past 50 years, the needs of airlines and passengers alike have hugely evolved: from a luxury that only a few could afford, to today, when air travel is a vital part of many people’s lives.

And with several houses’ worth of floorspace, aircraft cabin designers have a wide canvas on which to respond to changing trends.

And as this gallery of our comfort-seeking cabin interiors over the decades shows, Airbus has always championed passenger comfort, making it part of commercial aircraft design from conception...

In March 2016 Airbus’ progress in cabin comfort achieved new heights, with the launch of Airspace.

Airspace is a new brand of cabin designed by Airbus to bring a consistent passenger experience, regardless of aircraft model or flight duration.

Airspace bases cabin experience and innovation on four main pillars: ambiance, comfort, services and design.

Airbus was the first manufacturer to introduce full LED ambient lighting as a factory fit option – now widely adopted across the air transport industry. Today, it’s possible to fit mood lighting on all Airbus aircraft, choosing from a palette of more than 16 million colours to orchestrate lighting scenarios that can reduce jetlag on long-haul flights and improve passenger wellbeing.

Airbus also pioneered in reducing cabin noise. The A350XWB, for example, can be up to 9dB quieter than other long-haul aircraft – the equivalent of having only one loudspeaker in a room instead of four.