Airbus has significantly expanded its Hamburg customer definition center, adding 4500 square metres of space over two floors to include the A330 and A320 programs.
Now known as the Airspace Customer Definition Centre (CDC) to reflect the slick cabin concept the manufacturer launched with the A330neo, the additions will complement an existing offering for the A350 available since 2014.
The new extension is designed to help airlines plan their cabins and will allow them to customize features not just for a particular aircraft type, but across their fleet.
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“With the ability of the A320-Family aircraft to serve long-range routes and the A330neo evolution, the cabins of these aircraft families have become more specific and are subject to intense customization,” said Airbus senior vice president cabin and cargo program Soren Scholz.
“Since today four out of five A350 XWB customers are simultaneously A320/A330 operators this step is a win-win situation for all involved stakeholders to foster and streamline the cabin definition across their fleet.”
The CDC allows customers to design cabins through a series of dedicated zones.
It also sees the introduction of several new technologies, including a proprietary projection system which displays a full-scale cabin layout on the floor.
Airbus says this can be combined with original cabin elements to perform “live” tests of alternative layouts and scenarios
Meeting rooms have been updated with the latest virtual reality technologies and the manufacturer has also extended some mock-up configurations to include a cargo area “to discuss solutions for the use of the space in the lower-deck”.
Airbus and cabin interior specialist Zodiac Aerospace announced in 2018 they would develop lower deck modules with passenger sleeping berths and other facilities that can fit in an aircraft cargo compartment.
The idea builds on experience in producing crew rest areas is to provide airlines with modules that would be regularly interchangeable with regular cargo containers for a quick turnaround.
“The combination of functional playrooms for cabin equipment testing, exhibition areas for typical airline product staging, design studios for material and mood light definitions, virtual and augmented reality technology complemented by customer-specific mock-up areas, make the Airspace CDC a unique and attractive one-stop-shop for customers,’’ Airbus said.
