Jet Aviation Design Studio win at 2025 International Yacht & Aviation Awards

Two of the team’s entries were shortlisted for the Private Jet Design – Concept (Interior/Exterior) category. The Cirrus concept was crowned first place at the awards ceremony held in Monaco in June. You can read more about the award here. Jet Aviation unveiled the first-ever customized VIP completion the business aviation industry had ever seen at the Paris Air Show in 1979. Following this industry first, Jet Aviation has continued to be a pioneer in this highly bespoke design niche, redelivering more than 70 narrow- and wide-body VVIP and government completions to date. We launched our in-house Design Studio in the 1990s, and for some 30 years, we have been working with our customers and colleagues to bring groundbreaking new ideas and innovations to business aviation interiors. 

Grischa Schmidt, senior director interior design studio  commented : “It was a great honor to accept the award on behalf of Jet Aviation Design Studio. Well done to the whole team! Your passion and creativity inspire me daily. I’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who appreciated the design and went to vote for us. I would also like to thank the wider Jet Aviation team for their support and collaboration, including the late Elie Zelouf, who was an integral part of the founding of our VIP completions business in 1977, and an inspiration to us all. He was instrumental in pioneering business aviation completions back in the 1970s. None of what we do today would be possible without him creating this line of business decades ago. Thank you, Elie.” 

We caught up with Grischa and Jean-Francois Maugan, senior interior design specialist – who developed the winning Cirrus concept – to learn more about Jet Aviation Design Studio and their work.

Q: Congratulations again on your win! What do you think made this concept stand out against the competition?

Grischa: At the awards ceremony in Monaco, I received a lot of very positive feedback complimenting the concept on many levels. This design is highly complex but still easy to understand at first glimpse. It immediately grips your attention and then leads you to a deeper second read. You start to explore the design with your eye and discover the nuances. Further to that, the success of the concept lies in its obvious feasibility. It demonstrates how the team has not only a highly developed sense of aesthetics, but also a deep understanding of aircraft engineering. This is the key advantage of being an in-house design studio. We work side-by-side with the engineering, production, refurbishment teams and more, providing a seamless service across each and every project.

JF: Many of our customers are seeking a minimalist design that blends simplicity with personality, featuring natural and high-quality materials, soft accents and light. These aspects all infuse the space with a sense of emotion, material richness, and thoughtful detail, making the interior more livable and human-centered, as though it’s their own private home. In this way, the concept reflects an extension of our VVIP customers’ interior design tastes in other aspects of their lives, and this approach has connected with the audience.

Q: Could you talk us through how concepts such as these are created? What does the process look like?

Grischa: Our close, trusted relationships with clients allow us to anticipate not only their needs and preferences, but also their unspoken aspirations. Our design concepts are grounded in this understanding—going beyond the brief to reflect what the market truly desires. That intuitive alignment is often where the spark of innovation begins.

JF: In terms of workflow, it starts with a floorplan, the number of seats, outlining the individual spaces (galley, lounge, bedroom) and then defining the form language and sketching it. Every element has to “talk” to each other, which means exploring and playing with the balance and proportions. Form follows function here. We have to think about the reality of how the interior will be made, adding split lines, functional details like latches, buttons, grilles or shadow gaps. Technical constraints give us boundaries and challenges, but we always push for the best outcome.

Q: This is the second time the Design Studio has won at these awards. What do you think is the winning formula?

Grischa: At Jet Aviation we pursue an ethos of continuous improvement, with a commitment to innovation. We look for boundaries to push in all aspects of what we do. For the Design Studio, it comes down to advancing aircraft interior design to continually higher levels. It’s about reinventing yourself continuously and surprising the industry with new solutions, aesthetics, colors and materials.

JF: We have the technical knowledge, and also the expertise available to know what and where we can improve. It comes with experience, as well as looking at other creative fields such as automotive, interior architecture, fashion, art… to keep evolving. In a nutshell we are like mixologists, finding the right recipe with new ingredients every time.

Q: There was a strong line up at the International Yacht and Aviation Awards this year. What excites you most about interior design in aviation at the moment?

Grischa: Aircraft interior design has evolved beyond merely reflecting the lifestyle and aesthetic of owners’ residences and yachts—it now stands at the forefront. These airborne sanctuaries have become trendsetters in their own right, seamlessly uniting cutting-edge technology with the artistry of haute design. More than just interiors, we craft transformative journeys—spaces that elevate the in-flight experience into something emotionally resonant, personal, and unforgettable.

JF: There is an overall trend of creating an experience rather than “just designing” an interior, both in commercial and VIP business aircraft. Customers are seeking multi-functional spaces, with a particular interest in discreet and built-in technologies, for example with transparent screens, embedded buttons, wireless charging etc. We are also seeing a shift toward more interest in sustainable materials, both on the supply side with vendors, and on the demand side from customers.

This is the second time that Jet Aviation Design Studio has won at the International Yacht and Aviation awards. Read more about the team’s win with an ACJ319neo interior VVIP completion in 2023 here.