Airline Services Interiors awarded British Airways 747 IFE Upgrade work.

Wednesday 15th April 2015

The new dedicated Airline Services Interiors business, one of three distinct divisions under a new streamlined structure announced by Airline Services Ltd this week at Aircraft Interiors Expo (Hall 6 Stand B78), has been awarded a contract to integrate a new In-Flight Entertainment system on 18 Boeing 747 aircraft operated by British Airways.

Airline Services Interiors is responsible for the design, certification and manufacture of the modification kits to integrate the new IFE system on all classes of passenger seating from World Traveller (economy) though to First Class. It is working with IFE provider Panasonic and aircraft integrator, Zodiac NAT, to fit Panasonic's next generation eX3 IFE system, which will be installed from September 2015. The lightweight design of the system helps to save fuel, while offering customers over 1500 hours of entertainment programming on larger, hi-resolution screens featuring tablet style touch and swipe controls.

As part of the upgrade, Airline Services Interiors has also integrated new universal power sockets at 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 are also being 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.

Headed by Managing Director Martin Barnes, Airline Services Interiors' portfolio comprises three market focused capabilities -Through Life Services, Engineered Products and Managed Solutions, which is responsible for the British Airways IFE upgrade.

Managed Solutions brings together Airline Services Interiors' in-house design, manufacturing and turnkey modification with its EASA Part 21G design and manufacturing production capability.  This enables it to deliver customised solutions for airlines to redesign, refurbish or upgrade their cabin interiors seating and IFE.

Trial integration and First Article seat build is being carried out at Airline Services Interiors Passenger Seating Centre of Excellence, which is co-located with the design and manufacturing teams in Manchester, UK.  Certification of the three seat types is complete with First Article Inspection of the seat modification design phase nearing completion.  Airline Services Interiors will support the seat modification programme by British Airways Interiors Engineering at its facility in Blackwood, Wales where the first aircraft is due to be refurbished by British Airways in Summer 2015.