Lufthansa Technik and Airbus renew early Elite cabin-agreement

Oct. 21, 2014
The current agreement has been extended till 2020.

Lufthansa Technik and Airbus Corporate Jets have renewed their ELITE Cabin Agreement, building on a co-operation which begun in 2005, when the ACJ318  was launched. The current agreement has been extended till 2020.

Under the initial Airbus ACJ318 ELITE-cabin agreement, Lufthansa Technik was contracted to design, in partnership with Airbus, and then to outfit, the cabins of these aircraft.

The pre-defined cabin of the ACJ ELITE introduced the wider and taller cabin of the Airbus ACJ320 Family to a broader market, while continuing to give customers a choice of options and a wide range of colours and fabrics. These options now also include more floorplan variations.

Airbus ACJ318s were initially equipped with ELITE cabins by Lufthansa Technik's completion center in Hamburg, but the work was shifted later to the company's US-subsidiary BizJet International in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Deliveries of outfitted Airbus ACJ318s began in 2007, and 19 of them have been produced so far. They are in service with clients around the world, including several VVIP charter companies.

The first of an updated version, the Airbus ACJ318 Enhanced, has just been completed. It introduces as standard several features that were previously only options - such as domed ceilings throughout the cabin - as well as introducing further optional features.

To support sales activities and customer talks Lufthansa Technik's "Creative Design" department has developed an IT-based configuraton tool for the ACJ ELITE program which can be used on different electronic devices. The tool offers the possibility to demonstrate the large variety of cabin configurations of the ACJ ELITE and to adapt the cabin layout quickly to individual customer needs including the visualization of different colour concepts.

The configurator can be viewed at Lufthansa Technik's booth (no. 2289).

The ACJ318 ELITE was originally called the A318 ELITE

Airbus ACJ320 Corporate Jet Family:

Airbus' ACJ320 Family, comprising the ACJ318, ACJ319, ACJ320 and ACJ321, are unique in allowing customers to take more cabin into the sky, while fitting into similar ramp space.

Derived from the world's most modern aircraft family, Airbus corporate jets feature, as standard, many innovations that other business jets lack or only offer as options, such as  the simplicity and better handling of fly-by-wire controls, extensive use of weight-saving carbonfibre, and time and cost-saving centralised maintenance.

This heritage gives Airbus corporate jets excellent reliability, because they are designed to fly many flights a day. Airbus corporate jet operators are also backed by a worldwide support network serving over 500 customers and operators, as well as tailored services.

Airbus has sold over 170 corporate jets to date, and these aircraft are flying on every continent, highlighting their versatility.