Napcabs: Sleeping comfortably at the airport

The combination of jetlag and a long wait for your connecting flight is enough to put anyone in a bad mood. And trying to rest on the uncomfortable seats in terminal buildings is hardly inviting either. Students from the TU München university recognized this situation as a business opportunity and developed a 3 square meter cabin for passengers to rest. Now, two of the so-called “Napcabs” are open for use in Terminal 2 at the airport in Munich.

A napcab

The Napcabs are kitted out with a bed, a table, a mirror and a monitor. And the cabin is not just designed for people wanting to have a nap either. There is an integrated multimedia station that will play music, show selected films and provide an internet connection.

Customers pay via credit card on the monitor next to the door. A stay in the Napcab costs 15 euros for the first 15 minutes, with each further 15 charged at 4 euros and a whole night costing 60. When the guest leaves, an alarm automatically notifies the cleaning crew at the airport who quickly clean up the cabin for the next visitor.

Michael Krause, Peter Rück, Camillia Malcher, Javier Carvajal and Ralph Ziegler had presented their business idea at the business innovation competition “UnternehmerTUM” in 2007. They developed the design, the computer-controlled operation of the cabin and built the prototype in a workshop at the university. The five TU München students won the competition and – just a year later – with the support of the TU München there are now two “Napcabs” installed at the airport in Munich.

There won’t be too much Rest for the five founders though, as they have a busy time ahead: A reservation system is now in the works and following a pilot phase the students want to roll out Napcabs to other airports.

http://www.easy-sleep.com