People & their dogs.
A shared space designed around staying close, with the dog’s comfort and the passenger’s legroom considered together.
Dog-friendly pricing is still being developed.
A Dumb Device concept · 01
BOWLINES
Some journeys
belong together.
More room for you.
A place for the companion beside you.
Travel together, by design.Concept illustration
01 / The idea
Room for a different journey
What if the space
came first?
For people who want to bring their dog. For travellers who want to stretch out. Bowlines starts with the journey they want to share.
The proposal is to rethink how a large aircraft’s cabin is used: fewer rows, more personal space, and a considered place for a dog close to its human. Two aisles remain part of the cabin study.
People who need room.
A separate Comfort Class idea for travellers without furry friends: a seat that becomes a place to rest on a long journey.
Proposed fare target: 2× Economy.02 / Comfort Class
Settle in.
Stretch out.
Lie-flat comfort for long journeys.
For travellers without furry friends, the concept gives the seat a second purpose: a place to rest.
2× EconomyProposed fare target
The motion illustrates design intent. The mechanism has not been engineered or tested.
Earlier seat mechanism study
03 / The aircraft
A new chapter
for a very big aircraft.
The A380 offers a rare starting point: two full passenger decks, and room to ask a different question.
550m²
Published area across
both passenger decks
2decks
A full-length
double-deck passenger aircraft
That scale makes the A380 an interesting canvas for a product that trades some seat density for room. It also brings four engines and a large operating footprint. The commercial case must work for a real route.
Source: Airbus A380A sense of scale
Published cabin areas.
Manufacturer figures show overall cabin scale. Definitions and interiors differ; these are not directly comparable measures of usable seating space. The single-deck references below come from corporate-jet specifications.
| Aircraft | Published area | What the figure covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A380 | 550 m² | Both passenger decks | Airbus |
| Airbus A350-1000 | 308 m² | ACJ350-1000 cabin floor area | Airbus brochure |
| Boeing 777-300ER | 338 m² | BBJ 777-300ER cabin size | Boeing |
| Boeing 787-9 | ≈250 m² | BBJ 787-9 cabin area | Boeing fact sheet |
A380 square feet are converted and rounded. The 787-9 metric value is converted from the published 2,688 ft². No separate A380 main/upper-deck area is assumed.
04 / The business question
The aircraft price.
The airline economics.
A specific second-hand transaction
$40m
Per A380 sold to Emirates
in October–November 2024.
Five aircraft. One existing operator. A useful reference, with a specific context.
Doric Nimrod Air Two reported that these aircraft had been acquired for US$234 million each in 2012. It later sold them to their existing lessee, Emirates, for US$40 million each.
For comparison, Airbus’s 2018 average list price was US$445.6 million for a new A380. List price, original purchase price and used sale price describe different transactions.
Doric’s 2024 filingAirbus’s 2018 list prices
Historical US-dollar amounts. These are not current aircraft offers or a forecast of Bowlines’ acquisition cost.
The price of the aircraft
is just the first line.
The complete entry-into-service plan needs aircraft-specific quotations and a route-level operating model.
01
Aircraft & finance
Purchase or lease, deposits, records, insurance and working capital.
02
Engines & maintenance
Four-engine condition, reserves, heavy checks, spares and recovery cover.
03
Cabin & approval
Seats, pet-carrying systems, floor attachments, conversion and certification.
04
Every flight
Fuel, crew, airports, ground handling, cleaning and animal-care procedures.
05 / The practical path
Could it work?
A distinctive product is the starting point. Demand, design and the operation have to meet.
The opportunity
People may value staying close to their dog, or having room to lie flat, enough to support a cabin with fewer seats. A used aircraft could change the capital needed to explore that offer.
This is the commercial hypothesis to test.
The work ahead
Prove willingness to pay, achievable occupancy and route costs. Validate passenger clearance, animal comfort, containment, hygiene, aisle access and evacuation. Secure the aircraft, approvals and airport operation.
EASA guidance on cabin changesThe concept film
Imagine the journey.
70 seconds · An airline concept
From an early row-spacing study to an imagined journey together. Cabin layouts and seat motion are illustrative design intent.
Dumb Device · Airline Chapter
Make room
for the journey.
Bowlines is a design concept.
The next chapter is about proving it.