Two students from the United Arab Emirates have proposed a new type of wheelchair for air travel that saves disabled passengers from having to shift from one seat to another.
Amer Siddiqui and Ali Asgar Salim were named runners up in the 2018 James Dyson Award for the Air Chair, which slides over the top of standard aeroplane seats and stays in place for the duration of the flight.
The award recognises the best in student design from around the world and is judged by the British inventor.
Use of the Air Chair would allow disabled passengers to remain in a single seat for their entire journey, from departure gate to arrivals hall. Usually, passengers requiring a wheelchair would switch to a fixed seat once on board the plane.

"The current plight of wheelchair air travellers is extremely deplorable," said the two American University of Sharjah students. "The present solutions are exceedingly restricting and humiliating. They only provide limited mobility and accessibility." To create a chair that could slip over an existing seat like a glove, Siddiqui and Salim gave their design a hollowed-out "C" shape, with small, spherical rear wheels that fit underneath a standard aeroplane seat.
A locking mechanism secures the Air Chair in place, allowing the passenger to access the provided seatbelt and reach the life vest if required.
The design is also narrow enough to pass through aisles — another point of difference from standard wheelchairs. It...