The Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), a global non-profit airline association, has joined forces with the Crystal Cabin Award to create a new award in recognition of concepts and solutions that connect the aircraft cabin with the wider end-to-end passenger journey.
The new Seamless Journey award recognises ‘visionary concepts that break down the boundaries between the aircraft cabin and the wider travel experience’. In short, this means ideas that connect the onboard experience with what happens before, between and beyond flights. The scope of the experience spans everything from airport and ground services to transfers, destination experiences and post-flight interactions.
Entries for this prize category should demonstrate how the aircraft cabin can become an integrated part of a seamless travel ecosystem, creating new experiences and possibilities that extend beyond the aircraft interior. Applicable innovations can include cabin features, digital interfaces and platforms, connected services, airport and ground solutions, or integrated end-to-end journey concepts.
A sense of cooperation is important for the category. Delivering a genuinely seamless journey requires airlines, airports, manufacturers, suppliers, technology providers and service partners to work across traditional boundaries.
Apply now
The window for submissions to the APEX/Crystal Cabin ‘Seamless Journey’ award is now open. The deadline for entries is 30th September, 2026.
Following evaluation by an expert judging panel, the award will be presented on the second day of APEX FTE Expo, the end-to-end passenger experience and innovation expo that is taking place on 18-19 November 2026 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in Singapore. The award ceremony will be hosted at Swissôtel The Stamford in Singapore on 19th November 2026.
Application information and submission materials are available through the Crystal Cabin Award website.
A collaborative partnership
The cooperation brings together two internationally recognised aviation organisations with complementary perspectives. The Crystal Cabin Award contributes its established reputation as the world’s leading award for aircraft cabin innovation, together with its rigorous evaluation process and international expert judging panel.
APEX contributes its expertise as one of the world’s leading global airline and supplier associations, with a vision of advancing sustainable, innovative, and collaborative solutions that enhance every passenger’s travel experience.
By recognising solutions that connect the aircraft cabin with the wider end-to-end travel experience, the Seamless Journey award complements both the Crystal Cabin Award’s focus on cabin innovation and the APEX Innovation Awards’ recognition of advances in the airline passenger experience.
“Over the past two decades, the Crystal Cabin Award has established a global platform for innovations that transform the aircraft cabin. With ‘Seamless Journey’, we are deliberately broadening that perspective,” stated Angela Wockert, project manager of the Crystal Cabin Award.
“The new award extends our eight established categories by recognising solutions that connect the cabin with the airport, ground services and the many touchpoints before and after a flight,” explained Wockert. “APEX is the ideal partner for this initiative: its global community represents the full spectrum of the passenger experience. Together, we can give cross-sector ideas and collaborations the international platform they deserve.”
Dr Joe Leader, APEX Group CEO added, “While aircraft interior innovation is fundamental to the passenger experience, its impact is amplified when it integrates seamlessly with every other touchpoint of the trip, from the boarding gate to baggage claim. ‘Seamless Journey’ pairs the Crystal Cabin Award’s rigour on the aircraft interior with APEX’s view of the passenger’s entire path, debuting in Singapore as Asia’s aviation market increasingly sets that agenda. Airlines, airports, and manufacturers built this category together because none of them can deliver a seamless trip alone.”
