One year after the delivery of the world's first Airbus A318 Elite with a VIP and executive interior to Swiss business jet operator Comlux Aviation, Lufthansa Technik, the leading provider for VIP & Executive Jet Solutions, is right on track with one of the industry's most comprehensive completion programs.
"The A318 Elite completion program is a great success story for both our partner Airbus and for Lufthansa Technik. The innovative concept with a generally standardized VIP cabin in a 14- or 18-passenger configuration has created great customer interest. So far we have signed completion contracts for eleven A318 Elite. We are very confident to continue and enlarge this successful project with our partner Airbus. We are in negotiations for a number of additional aircraft," said Walter Heerdt, Senior Vice President Marketing & Sales at Lufthansa Technik.
"We have already delivered three A318 Elites and are currently working on two other aircraft at our completion center in Hamburg," Heerdt added. "The success of the A318 Elite completion program and the ongoing orders for other VIP and Executive aircraft types clearly demonstrate the current strength of the VIP aircraft market. Our narrowbody completion lines already operate at a very high load until 2012. We are optimistic that this situation will also continue beyond that date."
While the A318 Elite completion program is standardized a choice in the material and the color selection for seats, divans, carpets, bulkheads or ceilings allows the creation of a very individual cabin interior. To accelerate completion times, Lufthansa Technik selected new ways to create the interior: all wooden surfaces are made of decorative film coating (DFC) instead of real wood, offering unlimited design possibilities and the highest durability - an immense advantage for charter operators. All designs could be either offered in a high-gloss or satin finish. Even experienced carpenters need to examine the surfaces carefully to identify the DFC material.
Working for many years on the Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) family and having delivered various Airbus ACJs and A319LRs to individual clients, charter or scheduled VIP jet operators, the Airbus A318 Elite has now become a key product of Lufthansa Technik's completion center and strengthens its cooperation with Airbus in the area of VIP and Executive Jet Solutions.
Lufthansa Technik is not only an Authorized Completion Center for the ACJ family but also part of Airbus approved Service Centre network. Service Centres organise the provision of a variety of services - such as those of fixed base operators (FBO) - up to flight and cabin crews, flight operations support and maintenance.
