Staged in Hamburg between 27-29 March, Aircraft Interiors Expo 2012 provided solid evidence that the global aircraft interiors sector is in robust health, optimistic – and innovative.
A total of 7,990 (pre-ABC Audit figure) visitors from 87 countries came to the Hamburg Messe to see the latest ideas and innovations from over 500 exhibitors from 30 nations. High on the agenda of many airline visitors was the need to find affordable new products and services to enhance the passenger experience. This all-important issue had been examined in detail in the conference held the day before the exhibition opened and there was a broad spectrum of solutions on display in the show halls.
Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity was very much to the fore with the Inflight Entertainment Zone covering 12% of the floor space. High profile participants included Panasonic Avionics, who in its conference session on Monday afternoon gave a revealing insight into the future of wireless onboard systems. Also catching the eye of visitors were Lufthansa Systems with its BoardConnect product offering; Intelligent Avionics presenting the latest development to its seat-centric IFE system AURA Works; and Lumexis demonstrating its WiPAX system. WiPAX, which is derived from the company’s Fiber-To-The-Screen headend server/aircraft interface system, offers the capacity to provide HDTV simultaneously over fibre to big screens in first and business class cabins while delivering full‐cabin wireless data to every economy passenger’s PED.
Innovations in seating concepts continue to be developed and throughout the three days a variety of new systems were unveiled. They included Recaro’s Comfort Line 5510, B/E Aerospace’s Angled Oasis Super First Class Suite, Pitch Aircraft Seating’s PF2000, Timco’s latest seat in its FeatherWeight family of products and Acro Aircraft Seating’s Superlight Ultra economy class model.
Other new advances on display included noise-cancelling interior walls, stowage bin refurbishment systems, mood lighting, galley inserts and textile applications.
Announcements from the floor included:
Thales, with its TopSeries Avant Inflight Entertainment System, secured its first Boeing 787 customer with the system flying sometime in 2014.
Thompson Aero Seating was in high spirits after winning a contract from Austrian Airlines to fit its business class seats.
Schneller used the exhibition to announce that it has been named as the exclusive supplier of the Canvas Catalog decorative laminates for the new A350 XWB aircraft cabin interior. ·
MacCarthy Aviation received its third consecutive order for complete galley units from aircraft completion company AMAC Aerospace (Switzerland). ·
Iacobucci made its mark at the show by announcing that its HF VIP seat has been selected to be onboard the new Boeing BBJ Completions programme designed and developed by Altitude Aerospace Interiors. The in-house engineering and technical teams of the two companies worked together to achieve a unique product that exudes quality and promises a premium flying experience that balances comfort and innovation with style.
Over 250 delegates attended The Cabin Innovation and Strategies for the Future Conference to listen to leading experts from the aircraft interiors industry offer their views on the hot issues of today. The subjects covered included ways of achieving differentiation from competitors while taking advantage of standardisation; inflight entertainment and connectivity; and the crucial importance of passenger experience.
John Hyde, Event Director at Aircraft Interiors Expo, said: ‘The mood in both the conference and the exhibition was upbeat and focused on meeting the challenges facing the industry. The inclusion of a conference in this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo offering was a big step for us, but our research had indicated clearly that both the user and supplier community wanted an event of this type. We are delighted by the level of attendance and the feedback from delegates and speakers.’
He added, ‘The introduction of the conference, combined with the co-location of Aircraft Interiors Expo with World Travel Catering & Onboard Service Expo, now provides the industry globally with a four-day focus on the passenger experience’.
The next Aircraft Interiors Expo and conference takes place from 9 – 11 April 2013 at the Hamburg Messe. For more information please visit www.aircraftinteriorsexpo.com
In co-operation with Hamburg Messe
Ends
For further information and images please contact Carol Seath at CMS Strategic on Tel: +44 (0)20 8748 9797 or email info@cmsstrategic.com
About the organiser:
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with over 440 events in 36 countries. In 2009 Reed brought together over six million active event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and organised by 35 fully staffed offices.
Reed organises a wide range of events, including trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and meetings. Its portfolio of over 440 events serves 44 industry sectors, including: aerospace & aviation, automobiles, beauty & cosmetics, broadcasting, building & construction, electronics, energy, oil & gas, engineering & manufacturing, food service & hospitality, gifts, healthcare, interior design, IT & telecoms, jewellery, life science & pharmaceuticals, machinery, marketing, business services & training, medical education, printing & graphics, security & safety, sports & recreation, and travel.
Working closely with professional bodies, trade associations and government departments Reed ensures that each and every event is targeted and relevant to industry needs. As a result, many Reed events are market leaders in their field. Reed Exhibitions is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE-100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider. In 2008, Reed Elsevier made an adjusted profit before taxation of £1,205 million on turnover of £5,334 million.
About the Aviation Cluster Hamburg Metropolitan Region:
In 2001, the “Joint Initiative Hamburg – The place for aviation” was established by Hamburg aviation companies, trade associations, institutions, universities, and authorities. A network of partners with a combined workforce of more than 39,000 people developed out of the initiative. It has now been formalised with the establishment of the “Aviation Cluster Hamburg Metropolitan Region Association”. The largest employers in this technology-driven network are Airbus, Lufthansa Technik and Hamburg Airport. A further 300 small and medium-sized enterprises are also actively involved in the industry as suppliers and service providers; some of these are represented by the Hanse-Aerospace and HECAS associations. The integrated strategy of making aviation more economical, more ecological, more comfortable, more reliable, and more flexible helped the Aviation Cluster Hamburg Metropolitan Region to win the non-industry specific Leading-Edge Cluster competition, organised by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, in September 2008. The Ministry has provided a sustainable basis for the development of the cluster to a competency centre for “a new kind of aviation” by investing around 40 million euros in forward-looking northern German aviation projects.