Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Expo draws large crowds

Billed as the world's biggest aircraft interiors exhibition, the halls were filled with everything the industry has to offer. More than 500 suppliers from at least 256 countries, made sure there was something for everyone.

The event was prefixed by the unveiling of the interior of the Airbus A350 XWB at the company's giant Hamburg facility on Monday morning. You can read about that elsewhere in the magazine, but Airbus followed it up with a number of announcements at the show.

Airbus announced that is has added Recaro and Sogerma to its economy and premium economy seating options in the A350 XWB catalogue.

Recaro Aircraft Seating introduced its new modular CL3710 seat, which combines maximum living space and comfort with a lightweight design.

In 2013 Airbus agreed to add Sogerma new tailored “Celeste” seat for the A350 XWB’s wide fuselage and that company has now completed the design. Sogerma says the Celeste's innovative “cradle seat” provides premium economy passengers with a high level of comfort at an efficient pitch.

Monday also saw the 2014 Passenger Experience Conference take place at the nearby Congress Centre Hamburg (CCH).

Industry experts and stakeholders met to discuss contemporary issues such as cabin innovation, consumer expectations and strategies for profitability within the cabin.

A key theme from the opening plenary sessions was the need for the industry as a whole to “expand its existing thought envelope and challenge preconceived constraints to improve the passenger experience”.

In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) received significant attention with flydubai explaining the benefits of its FTTS (Fibre-To-The-Screen) Lumexis IFE system, which was a third of the weight and half the cost of competitive products at the time the carrier sourced the service.

They said the system was also the only one that could deliver High Definition (HD) content simultaneously to all passengers by using an ultra-fast fibre optic, rather than copper or WiFi, backbone.

However, Daniel Kerrison, vice president inflight product at flydubai, warned that: "The consumer electronics business is far more progressive than the IFE market. We are currently installing equipment that none of us would be willing to use in 8-10 years' time.

“We need to work with suppliers who share our values, who challenge the status quo and who refuse to accept mediocrity."

A second panel session, which included representatives from Recaro, Thales, and Cathay Pacific, as well as independent consultants, looked at other aspects of the passenger experience.

In terms of passenger connectivity, the Middle East does tend to lead the way with inflight internet and email access. Geneva-based OnAir announced a number of new contracts at the show.

First off was news that Saudia’s Boeing 787 aircraft are to be equipped with OnAir inflight connectivity, following on from its A330 and B777 fleets.

All of Saudia’s long-haul fleets are now connected with OnAir, with the airline becoming the company's second B787 operator. The first of Saudia’s eight B787s is due for delivery in December 2015.

Saudia also reported that it has seen a 400 percent increase in mobile data usage and 250 percent increase in internet usage over the last 12 months.

Kuwait Airways also announced that it has chosen OnAir as its inflight connectivity provider for 12 new aircraft as part of its privatisation and fleet upgrade.

This makes it the tenth Middle Eastern customer to go with OnAir. The airline has ordered five Airbus A330s and seven A320s, all of which will be line-fitted with Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir. The first A320 and first A330 will be delivered in December 2014 and May 2015 respectively.

Thales also announced that new low-cost carrier SaudiGulf Airlines is to offer its premium IFE in every seat in its brand-new Airbus A320 fleet.

SaudiGulf will operate domestic and international services from different airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The international route network will focus on the main capitals in the Middle East and Gulf, as well as the Indian subcontinent.

The aircraft’s economy class cabin will feature 8.9” displays at every seat and first class will be equipped with 12.1” displays and Thales TouchPMU, android-based touchscreen passenger media unit.

SaudiGulf will take delivery of its four Thales IFE-equipped A320 aircraft from February 2015, with operations beginning in Q1 2015.

Another connectivity provider that is keen to expand its presence in the Middle East is US-based Gogo. It unveiled a new system called 2Ku, which promises to deliver peak speeds to the aircraft of more than 70 Mbps. 2Ku uses two low-profile, high-efficiency Ku-band satellite antennas.

Gogo expects this new technology to outperform other global connectivity solutions currently available in the market and Japan Airlines is expected to be among the first to trial it, probably in 2015. This may be a direct competitor of Panasonic Avionic's rival Ku-band system, which is finding favour with Middle Eastern carriers – you can read about this in our feature.

Staying with connectivity, Inmarsat said that it is on target to launch its ultra-fast Ka-band GX Aviation service in 2015. Miranda Mills, Inmarsat president Avaition, said that it has one geostationary satellite in position with two more being launched this year – the first in the summer.

It has been busy building the ground segment and preparing the modems and software needed to run the service. Disappointingly, it didn't announce its launch customer in Hamburg. Rumoured to be a major Middle Eastern carrier, ink has yet to be put on contract, although it could be close according to inside sources.

Meanwhile though, partner Honeywell is busy preparing the two airborne antennas and terminals that will support GX Aviation. Now collectively called “JetWave”, the first is a fuselage-mounted array for commercial airliners, which promises to deliver 50 Mbps. The second is a lightweight tail-mounted antenna for business jets that tips the scales at just nine pounds. It should be capable of 33 Mbps to its smaller parabolic dish.

Across the rest of the sprawling halls there was so much going on that it was difficult to keep up.

Zodiac was showing how its RAVE embedded IFEC product can now be controlled via your smartphone or other personal electronic device (PED).

Once “paired” with your Wi-Fi enabled device, the system gives you full control of the IFE. Passengers can then use it to select movies, move a cursor around the screen or even order food or drink, all via a browser-based application.

Thales' immersive business class seat concept, complete with eye- and gesture-controlled IFE, and smartphone interface received a lot of attention. As did Panasonic Avionics new IFE concept developed specifically for Recaro's 3710 seat, complete with a stunning 1080p HD display.

BAE Systems also gave visitors a tour of its IntelliCabin adaptable and scalable cabin management system.

IntelliCabin includes a number of unique features, including power points for all seats that can be individually powered up or down, either via a central control or an app on a smart device. Plus fully-controllable LED mood lighting, dimmable windows, and enhanced seat control.

BAE Systems is also working with Samsung on innovative ways of integrating tablets and smart phones as the primary IFE platform.

From giants to smaller companies, all were present at AIX 2014. But the final word rests with Rick Crosby, sales director of UK-based Stag Group. He was exhibiting its innovative new process for producing scratch-resistant plastic components for the aerospace market, which are designed to tackle the everyday rough and tumble of aircraft use.

The process uses a special ink that can penetrate the plastic substrate you wish to print on, so that it can never be rubbed off.

Crosby said that the footfall and interest in his products had been “phenomenal”, showing the handfuls of business cards from major OEMs that he had collected on the second day alone.