Page 9 - Aircraft Interiors India -April-may 2024-fn

COVER STORY

The A350

cabin retrofits –

An Airbus

perspective

s the mighty wide- cabin products for customers,
body Airbus A350s customised as per their particu-
are geared for a cabin lar A350 production standard
Aretrofit post complet- and configuration. Now airlines
ing almost a decade in service, can consider a wide range of
Airbus is ramping its capacity additions to the Supplier-Fur-
and protocols to aid airlines in nished-Equipment (SFE) cabin
cabin retrofit procedures. The equipment catalogue items
cover story of the inaugural that typically include new types
issue of Aircraft Interiors today of lavatories, galleys, ovens,
is selected eyeing the current fridges, chillers, beverage mak-
needs of number airlines across ers, trash compactors, electro-
the globe who will opt for cabin dimmable windows etc.
retrofits on their nine-year old There were not originally avail-
A350s in months to come. able at the time of the A350’s
Interestingly as the aircraft cabin definition freeze in the
completes eight years in service, early 2010s
it is expected to under cabin There are also new types of
retrofit, since theA350s have buyer-furnished equipment
crossed the threshold mark, (BFE) to consider including
Airbus is all geared up for the business and economy class
first wave of cabin retrofits to hit seats and new types of in-flight
them any time soon. entertainment (IFE). For ex-
Since 2014, almost 600 A350s ample, from 2020 Airbus offered
have been delivered and by 4K IFE versus the existing 1080p
2028, about 390 A350s will be screen definition.
reaching the threshold age of
cabin retrofit program. Typical New built-in SFE satellite
upgrade drivers for airlines will connectivity solution
include: Airbus is offering as SFE (both
Ó interior rebranding; in retrofit and linefit) its built-in
Ó class segmentation; high-bandwidth connectivity
Ó seat-count optimisation; platform, known as HBCplus.
and harmonising their in-service With this flexible satcom solu-
products to match those of the tion, the antenna and modem
new aircraft joining their respec- hardware are fully integrated as
tive fleets an SFE product. This approach
Airbus has developed its cata- enables in-flight connectivity
logue of retrofit BFE and SFE directly from multiple satellite

www.aircraftinteriorstoday.com April / May 2024 9