A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

With organizers' renewed emphasis on the passenger experience, Dubai Air Show 2017 attendees can see the latest in cabin comforts and concepts inside the airliners on static display, including the Airbus A350-900, Boeing’s 787-10, the Airbus/Bombardier Aerospace C Series 300, and FlyDubai’s 737 Max 8. But if your interior tastes are more rarified, you can also discuss your outfitting options with the world’s leading VIP/VVIP (the latter signifying head of state) aircraft interior completion services.

 


Basel, Switzerland-based Amac Aerospace (Stand 1058) arrives in Dubai following major scores this year with both leading executive airliner manufacturers: first, completing for Boeing Business Jets its BBJ Demonstrator, the manufacturer’s showcase for its next generation BBJ Max; and then being selected to perform the first completion on an ACJ320neo for UK-based Acropolis Aviation, launch customer for the Leap 1A-powered Airbus Corporate Jet.

 


The BBJ Demonstrator interior, designed by Germany’s Unique Design, required some 25 more miles of wiring than a standard 737, along with 7,500 sq ft of fine fabrics and more than 13 miles of thread, and required 200,000 hours of engineering and production to create the interior components. Some 6,000 hours of varnishing and polishing of the more than 530 pounds of exotic wood veneer also went into the interior. Despite these lavish appointments, an interior weight of about 16,000 pounds is mid-weight for a BBJ.

 


Jet Aviation (Chalet A11, A12) lands at the Dubai Air Show 2017 following a year of completion and refurbishment activity at its Basel completion center capped by redeliveries of a VVIP ACJ330 and an ACJ319 to the same undisclosed Middle Eastern customer, both designed by its in-house studio. Influenced by traditional Arabic motifs and color palettes, the ACJ330 design also incorporates silk wall coverings, gold plating, smoked oak, Macassar and Zebrano woods and mother-of-pearl inlays. Starlight ceilings are designed to reflect the position of the constellations as seen above Riyadh during the founding of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.

 


Weight management processes kept both aircraft lighter than contractually required, enabling the ACJ330 to fly nonstop from Riyadh to Los Angeles. The ACJ319, designed for more flexible use, features distinct cabin zones including a majlis area.

 


If you want the latest in satcom installations on your executive airliner, GDC Technics/GDC Middle East (Stand 1354, Chalet P12) completed this year the first Ka-band satcom installation on an executive-configured Boeing 787, and is “on track to deliver the STCs for installing the Honeywell Ka-band JetWave solution” on Airbus and Boeing executive airliners “from the 747 down,” said Mohammed Alzeer, GDC general partner.

 


GDC Technics has invested some $11 million in obtaining the approvals, and now has STCs for the JetWave on BBJ747-300/400; BBJ777-200/300; BBJ737-600/700/900; and the ACJ319/320 airframes, which provides “in-flight connectivity that is as good as at home and in the office,” Alzeer said. GDC has three 787 completions under way at its Fort Worth, Texas facility.

 


Today’s VIP airliner buyers “like to be at centers that are innovating, that are developing and investing in new technology,” Alzeer said. “It’s not just building a beautiful cabin, which was always a requirement, but now [the interior] has to be technologically advanced, and bring a lot of value to the asset.”

 


Switzerland’s SR Technics (Stand 1110, Chalet P3), now majority owned by China’s HNA Aviation Group, following last year’s sale by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Group, conducts VIP refurbishments, upgrades and completions, as well as MRO services, at its Center of Excellence for Cabin Modifications in Zurich. Since offering the VIP service in 2011, SR Technics has conducted numerous governmental, VIP and VVIP refurbishments in conjunction with maintenance, minimizing downtime. That capability was demonstrated earlier this year when SR Technics redelivered an Airbus widebody VVIP aircraft following a maintenance inspection that required removing and reinstalling the entire bespoke interior, all accomplished in 41 days, according to the company.

 


On the heels of celebrating last year the 20th anniversary of its VIP aircraft refurbishment and maintenance business, Riyadh-based Alsalam VIP Completion (Stand 930), this year marks the 10th anniversary of its completions center at King Khalid International Airport. Alsalam—a subsidiary of Alsalam Aircraft—manufactures interior components for its completion and refurbishment projects, and performs a range of maintenance, repair and overhaul tasks for both civilian and military customers at the facility.

 


Alsalam has also developed a niche specialty in refurbishing older VIP aircraft, finding a ripe market in the Middle East, including converting Lockheed Hercules C-130s to VIP configurations.

 


Ameco Beijing (Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Co; Stand 995), which claims the title as China’s largest provider of airline technical support services, has offered VIP completion and refurbishment services since 2012. This year Ameco, a joint venture between Air China and Lufthansa, completed the first 6C check on an ACJ319 in China, and also qualified as an official Boeing BBJ Service Center. China’s BBJ fleet has tripled over the past five years to some 29 of the executive airliners, BBJ president Greg Laxton said in announcing the authorization.

 


Ameco has performed VVIP interior completions on commercial airliners including the Airbus A330 and Boeing 737/747, and has a hangar dedicated to executive airliner completion and maintenance, capable of accommodating a wide-body aircraft or three narrow-body aircraft simultaneously.

 


Kazakhstan’s Comlux-KZ (Stand A04), a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Comlux Aviation, offers charter, aircraft management, ground handling and hangar parking services. Earlier this year Comlux performed the cabin completion on the first EASA-certified Sukhoi Business Jet (SBJ), the executive version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100. The SBJ is owned, coincidentally, by Kazakhstan-based Kazakhmys Corporation.

 


Fokker Services (Stand 446), known for innovations like the SkyView Panoramic Window it’s developing with Boeing Business Jets for BBJs, is boosting the profile of its Fokker Techniek completions arm. “We’re looking to put our name out as a ‘go to’ alternative to traditional, existing completion centers,” said Shaun Collins, Fokker Techniek’s chief commercial officer. “We see that as a real growth area, given the skills and talent and resources that Holland is renowned for.”

 


Boeing Business Jets has also contracted Fokker, a GKN (Stand 1858) subsidiary, to design and perform the interior completion on a BBJ ordered by the Dutch Government for transport of government officials and the Dutch Royal family. Interior design activities are under way and the aircraft is scheduled for delivery to the Dutch Government in 2019. Collins noted the world’s aging BBJ fleet also presents opportunities for refurbishment specialists. “Nobody wants to drive around in a 10-year-old Boeing with a 10-year-old interior anymore,” he said.

 


Aeria Luxury Interiors (Stand 1378), the U.S.-based VIP completion center of Singapore’s ST Aerospace, offers design, engineering, fabrication, installation and certification services for executive and head of state configured aircraft. A full-service Airbus- and Boeing- authorized completion facility, since 2012 Aeria has refurbished, completed and performed heavy maintenance and avionics upgrades on more than 20 aircraft. That includes Aeria’s first green BBJ completion, redelivered last year.

 


Overall, Aeria sees “a rising trend of aircraft operators requesting VIP aircraft cabin interior refreshments to be performed concurrently with heavy maintenance,” said Ang Chye Kiat, ST Aerospace’s executive vice president, aircraft maintenance and modification.

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