insights: april 2016 - airline...

Insights: April 2016

Welcome to Insights

It has been exactly a year since Airline Services Group, relaunched our Workshops, Engineering, Production and Soft Furnishings divisions as a single exciting new business – Airline Services Interiors at last year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.

Since our relaunch, we have delivered some very exciting “Managed Solutions” projects including the British Airways 747-400 Cabin and Aer Lingus/ASL Airlines 757 Cabin Refresh Programmes and Air Berlin Business Class Refurbishment. We have also successfully won a number of new projects, some of which you will be able to read about on the pages that follow and see some examples of these on our stand at this year’s Expo.

We have been working hard behind the scenes to improve our Operational performance, through our Lean Implementation and AS9100 accreditation programmes. Explicitly targeted at improving our Value proposition for our customers.

At the same time, we have completely renewed our front line sales team. Bringing experienced professionals on board with backgrounds as diverse as BAE Systems, Contour Premium Aircraft Seating, British Airways Engineering, SR Technics and United Technologies. If you have not met them yet, we hope you will soon!

As we look forward to celebrating Airline Services Interiors 1st anniversary at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo, we have set up a new quarterly newsletter to keep our customers, suppliers, employees, friends and followers up to date with our latest developments and news.

Hopefully, you will take the time to read this and find it “Insightful”.

Aer Lingus Boeing 757 cabin refresh

Airline Services Interiors has won a significant contract from IAG member airline partner Aer Lingus for a major enhancement on three of its Boeing 757-200 aircraft. Modifications cover work integrating a new cabin arrangement with the installation of new lie-flat Thompson Aero Vantage business class seating, monuments, the fitting of Zodiac Inflight Innovations IFE and Astronics In-Seat Power. This is the first time the Thompson Aero Vantage seat will be certified on a B757.

Design work was agreed for the three B757s in October last year. The first aircraft is scheduled to enter service on routes operated for Aer Lingus by partner ASL Airlines, on its own commercial AOC, in February 2016.

Due to the success of the 757-200, a fourth aircraft, commissioned in January, after the first three, will be complete by May this year. In addition to installing the business class seats, Airline Services Interiors will supply fully refurbished economy class seats, fitted with Zodiac’s RAVE IFE, mirroring the offering of its three sister aircraft.

Airline Services InteriorsCanberra House, Robeson Way, Sharston Green Business Park, Manchester, M22 4SX

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Above: Aer Lingus B757 cabin

Insights: February 2016

RAVE™ Centric IFE is an embedded modular inflight entertainment system offering a range of choices for different cabins including wireless 2nd screen, display size, customizable peripherals, integrated USB charging and all of the latest features including harmonization with airline mobile applications.

Airline Services Interiors is managing the design and certification efforts, to perform the cabin reconfiguration. Its activity will include the full refurbishment of economy class seats, with new plastics, soft furnishings and IFE integration; introduction of in-seat power, using Astronics hardware; development of new forward monuments in Business Class, incorporating the Thomson footwell surround, Zii IFE, emergency equipment and coat storage. This will be completed to compliment the carrier’s Airbus A330 with the Aer Lingus Shamrock.

In addition, Airline Services Interiors will provide a newly designed class divider arrangement, producing new windbreaks and curtains. It will also provide parts to support the aircraft installation including infill panels, threshold strips, tedlar trim, raceways, PSU and PSU infill panels and hoses along with the backbone cabling and shipside wiring changes.

This is the second contract win from Aer Lingus for the Airline Services Group. It was previously contracted during 2013/2014 to enhance those same three aircraft –- equipping them with new economy class Recaro 3510 seating and RAVE IFE. Work extended to monuments, cabin dividers and soft furnishings. Being entrusted with this important programme, reaffirms our reputation for developing timely, innovative solutions to meet our customers’ cabin refurbishment requirements.

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British Airways’ Queen of the Skies gets a cabin makeover

During last year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo we announced that, Airline Services Interiors had been awarded the contract to provide design, certification and manufacturing services to integrate Panasonic’s next generation eX3 In-Flight Entertainment system into eighteen British Airways 747-400 aircraft.

By the first day of the show, Airline Services Interiors is delighted to announce that we have delivered fifteen of the eighteen kits to British Airways, on-time-in-full, with the final kits being delivered in June.

The installation features on all classes of passenger seating from World Traveller (economy), World Traveller Plus (premium Economy), Club World (business) and First Class.

Airline Services Interiors was responsible for the design, certification and manufacture of the modification kits to integrate the new IFE system in each cabin, working with Panasonic and Zodiac NAT, which certified the installation into the aircraft.

As part of the upgrade, Airline Services Interiors has integrated new universal power sockets on every seat in World Traveller Plus (premium economy) together with individual USB sockets to allow customers to power their phones and tablets.

The cabin interiors of the British Airways 747s have also been refreshed so they match those on the airline’s new A380 and 787 aircraft and Airline Services Interiors has developed new fitted seat covers to improve comfort and appearance. Trial integration and First Article seat build was carried out at Airline Services Interiors Passenger Seating Centre of Excellence, which is co-located with the design and manufacturing teams in Manchester, UK. The seat modification programme, is being carried out by British Airways Interiors Engineering at its facility in Blackwood, Wales.

Airline Services joins European Regional Airline Association

Airline Services Interiors has signed up to become a member of the European Regional Airline Association (ERA).

ERA is a non-profit trade association representing the European aviation industry with members including 50 airlines and 136 service providers such as airframe and engine manufacturers, airports, suppliers and service providers from all over Europe.

As a leading provider of cabin interiors services, we are proud to sign up to become members of ERA. We look forward to sharing our knowledge and experiences with our peers and helping to raise the profile of the importance of regional air transport in Europe.

Other member companies of ERA include Adria Airways, Air Greenland, ASL Airlines, BAE Systems, Bombardier, Lufthansa, GE, Etihad Regional and TAP Portugal amongst many more.

For further information about ERA and its members please visit: http://www.eraa.org/

Above: Aer Lingus B757 cabin

Above: World Traveller Plus

Above: World Traveller Plus

Above: World Traveller


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Product Focus – Are you sitting comfortably?

Passenger seating maintenance activity is at the forefront of Airline Services Interiors Through Life Support offering.

Utilising our Centre of Excellence for Passenger Seating in Manchester, Airline Services Interiors provides dedicated Part 145 Maintenance and Refurbishment services for a range of interior products to meet our customer’s time and cost constraints. Our quality is second to none.

Airline Services Interiors’ experienced seating technicians have also been supporting a number of Boeing 787 customers by providing Service Bulletin embodiment on-wing at their facilities on their passenger seats

Working with our partners across the industry, Airline Services Interiors can provide tailored Through Life Support solutions to support and manage elements of our customers’ planned maintenance schedules, life extension programmes, or End of Lease activities.

“With shorter and shorter ground times, it is inevitable that there will be a requirement for on-site defect rectification versus the need for full base maintenance. This is a service that Airline Services Interiors is very much geared to provide” – Geoff Brewer, Workshop Manager

Helping flight attendants get a well-deserved rest

The Aviation Authorities have set rules to determine how long a flight or cabin crew member can work and equally what provisions must be made for cabin crew sleeping quarters or rest facilities. Which are necessary to allow crew members to obtain sleep and rest of adequate quality.

Airline Services Interiors is supporting airlines to meet these regulation in a number of ways.

Airline Services has recently developed and manufactured new flight deck and crew rest mattresses for British Airways’ Airbus A380 aircraft. These flight deck and crew rest mattresses are certified under our EASA Part 21J European Parts Approval and manufactured in-house using our extensive Part 21G Production capability.

In terms of quality these are of equivalent quality to the OEM, but with the advantage of being significantly cheaper and with improved lead-times.

While the flight crew are typically deemed to be the most important workers on an aircraft, the comfort of your flight and your safety is largely the responsibility of your cabin crew. Of course, many aircraft do not have dedicated crew rest facilities and under EASA CS FTL.1.205 Directive, cabin crew must have a suitable place to rest and some separation from passengers by at least a curtain to provide darkness and some alleviation of sound.

Airline Services Interiors has recently worked on behalf of Thomas Cook Airlines to develop and manufacture new light and sound reducing curtains for their A330 aircraft.

Three groups of curtains were developed for each aircraft and tested in a purpose-built rig at our facility in Manchester by the airline, prior to manufacture.

Above: Pre-modification Above: Post-modification

Polishing Pearls for AirBerlin

In 2012, Airline Services Interiors was awarded the contract to provide a complete refurbishment and re-brand of AirBerlin’s Sogerma Pearl Business Class Seats, for twelve A330 aircraft. Which is similar to a previous programme completed for the same seats on the Etihad A340 fleet.

Towards the end of 2015, Airline Services was awarded the contract extension for an additional two A330 aircraft. Both sets of seats will have been re-delivered to AirBerlin by the time of this newsletter, in a class-leading TAT for this type of activity.

The refurbishment activity is a complete overhaul to the existing design with Airline Services manufacturing all new plastics, leather trim and seat covers. Along with painting of the seat units in the new AirBerlin brand style.

This refurbishment, which was conceptualised, certified and carried out by Airline Services also includes the integration of new Zodiac RAVE IFE. In addition, Airline Services has developed, manufactured and installed new product enhancements such as privacy dividers, bottle holders and TTL lights.

Delivering world-class pleated curtains

Airline Services Interiors’ long-standing supplier relationship with Lantal Textiles has continued to go from strength to strength and last year Airline Services Interiors produced a total of 8,500 pleated curtain sets for the Swiss based fabric manufacturer. Customers of pleated curtains include Emirates, Air New Zealand, Air Canada, Bangkok Airways, Jet Airways, EVA Air, Turkish Airlines and many more flag carriers.


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On Reflection ….

Airline Services Interiors has been selected to manufacture a range of mirror products, for one of the world’s leading airlines’ A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft.

These mirrors range from simple baggage bin security mirrors, to illuminated lavatory mirrors and even more complex decorative mirrors for the onboard cocktail bars.

This represents a significant addition to Airline Services Interiors’ Engineered Products Portfolio, certified under our EASA Part 21J European Parts Approval and manufactured in-house using our extensive Part 21G Production capability. Examples of these products will be on display at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo.

In addition to this, Airline Services has also developed new replacement galley surfaces for the carrier.

Supporting Bulkhead tables for British Airways A320

Strativer originally introduced the bulkhead mounted meal table for Row 1 of A320s in the late 90s. These tables were a good alternative to “special seats” with In-Arm Tables and were installed by many airlines including those owned by BMI, which are now being flown by British Airways.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with legacy products, supporting these products has been difficult for the airline and Airline Services has developed an alternative bulkhead table assembly, certified under our EASA Part 21J European Parts Approval and manufactured in-house using our extensive Part 21G Production capability. As part of our Engineered Products capability, Airline Services Interiors actively seeks ways to improve on the original product where we can. Either due to customer feedback or during our own engineering process. As such a number of enhancements have been introduced to make the tables more robust and to improve safety.

Brand Identity, creating a distinguished product

At Airline Services Interiors we create and deliver cost-effective, quality and timely customised solutions for redesign, refurbishment or upgrade of Cabin Interiors. Mainly we are known for this in terms of passenger seating and for our direct replacement of EPA parts.

However, we also develop unique branded products on behalf of our customers. These products help to personalise the flying environment and foster the unique identity of the airline. Most recently this has included the development of “sunny heart” brand panels to support the re-brand of the Thomas Cook fleet and the addition of the Aer Lingus “shamrock” on the monuments we developed for B757.

Lufthansa started the custom of naming its aircraft in 1960 when it began giving its jets the names of German cities. Gradually, this has progressed to naming aircraft after some of the air carrier’s most important international gateway cities. Since 2013, Airline Services Interiors has had the privilege of helping name these aircraft supplying the welcome on board plates resplendent with the respective city’s coat of arms. Along with the much more prominent “Crane” brand panels that you can see here.

Airline Services Interiors can find many creative and inspirational ways to reflect an airline’s brand in the cabin.

Visit our new look website: www.airline-services.com

Follow us on Twitter: @ASI_FurtherMore

Get in touchPlease contact the relevant regional sales person below to

discuss your requirements.

Richard Dobson, Commercial DirectorT: +44 (0)161 495 6957

E: [email protected]

Dean CalkinWestern & Central European Region

M: +44 (0)7876 478709E: [email protected]

David WitchardEastern & Southern Europe, including CIS countries & Israel

M: +44 (0)7342 085 767E: [email protected]

Mark SalisburyUK & Ireland

M: +44 (0)7979 702 621E: [email protected]

Damian ProtanoUK & Ireland

M: +44 (0) 7884 667 165E: [email protected]

John FerrisMiddle East, Africa & IndiaM: +44 (0)782 447 5528

E: [email protected]

Rachel BarnettScandinavia, South Africa and Asia-Pacific

M: +44 (0)7554 223462E: [email protected]

Airline Services Limited

Airline Services Interiors is a subsidiary company of Airline Services Limited Group of companies which also comprises of Airline Services Handling which offers a fully integrated One-Stop-

Shop for de-icing, ground handling, exterior washing, technical cleaning and aircraft presentation. For over 30 years, Airline Services Limited has established its position as a market leader

in providing innovative aircraft cabin interior support and presentation services to the industry through these two specialist companies. Airline Services Limited is proud to command one

of the most comprehensive infrastructures of any operator in the industry with bases at ten of the UK’s major airports.

UK Airport Locations:

Birmingham Bristol Edinburgh Gatwick Glasgow Heathrow Luton Manchester Newcastle Stansted

Tel: +44 (0)161 495 6900 Email: [email protected] www.airline-services.com

insights: april 2016 - airline...

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