In the hills of Austria, around an hour’s drive from Vienna, one private jet interior developer with a legacy stretching back over 70 years is smashing the rules around luxury design with concepts and innovations that would impress even James Bond.
F/List undoubtably designs and produces beautiful plane interiors but it’s the company’s obsession with creating sustainable products inspired by science and technology that really makes this company stand out among the crowds.
AeroTime was fortunate enough to be invited to the humongous F/List facility in May 2024, to gain an understanding of the passion and commitment that goes into creating the aircraft interiors on luxury private jets.
F/List began its work in 1950, solely under the guardianship of its founder Franz List Snr whose mark on the company is strongly felt as you walk through the facility even today.
Now proudly flying the F/List flag is Franz List Snr’s granddaughter, CEO Katherina Nagi-List, whose unbreakable connection to the company’s philosophy and ethos is infectious when she talks.
As well as private jets, F/List also designs and produces luxury interiors for residences and yachts, particularly of the superyacht variant, and works with airlines on their most exclusive seats and cabins.
F/Lab innovation hub
At the start of the day AeroTime was introduced to F/List’s launch of F/Lab innovation hub which marks a move from the innovation arm of the company’s work from an in-house concept to its “position as an essential pillar in the F/LIST innovation strategy”.
At the heart of the F/Lab is a team of developers, innovators and scientists who are also laser-focused on creating and building the products of the future that push the development of technology and sustainability.
“With the F/LAB expansion, we are demonstrating that we are much more than just a manufacturer fulfilling design briefs. We are introducing the concept of 361° insight, which will see our colleagues not just visualizing our customers’ world but working in tandem with them to realize their design dreams,” List-Nagl said.
Within the F/Lab team there are around 35 developers who also collaborate with experts from academia, transportation, design, and industry to explore cutting-edge concepts that can shake up the luxury interior market.
“Our team’s ideas converge to ensure form, function and ingenious thinking, which result in unprecedented features that enhance comfort, functionality, and aesthetic appeal for every interior,” List-Nagl explained.
Sustainability is a huge part of F/List’s work to discover eco-friendly alternatives and “strategies that will protect the planet’s longevity through intelligent application of nature”.
Cutting-edge innovations
AeroTime was presented with a number of concepts including the Shapeshifter F/LAB Morphing Sideledge table concept which adopts advanced technology for a real wood veneer table to appear magically from the side ledge.
Other innovations include Whisper Leather, produced from plant-based raw materials, and Linfinium, a linseed-based compound with applications ranging from countertops to flooring.
F/List has more than 1,100 employees around the world and during a tour of the facility AeroTime witnessed the incredible craftmanship of its team at work.
The attention to detail and sheer scale of the facilities communicates the feeling that the company is utterly dedicated to its work.
Getting to see the instalments that would eventually feature on the latest private jets and superyachts was also fascinating.
While F/List has been working on interiors for private aircraft for 20 years it’s only been three years since the company branched into commercial aviation by designing and crafting first class and business class environments.
With the launch of Lufthansa’s unique new Allegris premium cabin product, notable for offering business class passengers five different types of seats to select from, this can only seem to serve F/list’s growth in this sector.
“Many of our customers own multiple high-value assets, and with our latest approach,” Nagi-List added. “We’ll seamlessly support the interior design and development of their jets, yachts, interior spaces, and residences across their portfolio, in partnership, from inception to installation.”