About us

A Modern Approach

Airchair was developed in 2007 to help airlines match a key regulatory and social requirement to a passenger’s needs.

The founder of Airchair has combined his engineering experience with his knowledge of those with reduced mobility and combined these skills to produce this neat, light weight and easy to manoeuvre aircraft wheelchair.

The entire design focuses on efficiency and passenger comfort. It is lightweight but remarkably strong, incorporates a unique retracting back support and can be folded small enough that it can be stored in an overhead locker or dog box.

To support the cleaning regimes now being practised by the airlines, Airchair’s frame has an antimicrobial finish to reduce the spread of infection.

History of The Airchair

In 2005 Brian Richards, Airchair’s designer, had a casual conversation with Virgin Atlantic about the inadequacy of on-board wheelchairs. They expressed their concerns that the products available at the time would not meet the growing requirements from passengers and wouldn’t help airlines meet their social or environmental obligations.

This casual conversation inspired him to develop a product that would solve these concerns. Consequently Brian used his experience as an Aircraft Engineer combined with his experience of caring for people with disabilities and designed the first Airchair. This first product was similar to the product sold today but was black and not as lightweight.

Gradually, over the years, Brian worked to source even lighter materials and perfected the design to what it is today, producing two different sizes – 14″ or 15″ widths. He also decided that the standard Airchair should be blue – representing the sky.