Airbus has launched a new VIP cabin concept, initially for the A330-200, offering a faster and more affordable way to the greater capacity, capability and comfort of a widebody for both private and government customers.

Called Summit, the concept features a VIP section at the front of the cabin, and airline-style seating at the rear.

“What most customers want in a widebody is the ability to carry more people and to fly them nonstop to the world, “ points out Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers, John Leahy. “The Airbus ACJ330 Summit delivers the greater capacity, comfort, and capability of a widebody, and will do so faster and more affordably than competitors, by using a modern and proven solution.”

The Airbus ACJ330 Summit features a bedroom with ensuite bathroom at the front, followed by an office, a conference and dining room and a working area, and then airline-style first-class and economy seating at the rear.

The airline-style seating would be installed in production, which is faster and more cost-effective, and the concept can be evolved to meet customer needs.

Airbus’ A330 is one of the world’s most successful airliners, and is currently being produced at a rate of ten a month, the highest of any widebody. The A330 and A340 were launched as a joint programme, have won more than 1,700 orders to date, and more of them have been delivered (1497 to end-September) than any other widebody series.

Airbus A330s and A340s have been chosen by more than 160 customers and operators around the world, which means that wherever an ACJ330 Summit customer flies there is likely to be another user nearby. The A330 achieves a robust reliability of better than 99 per cent, and is in-service as freighter and mult-role tanker transport (MRTT) versions - as well as with airlines and private customers.

ACJC delivers an ultra-customized and high quality ACJ320 VVIP cabin

In further news, Airbus Corporate Jet Centre (ACJC), the specialist in Airbus Corporate Jet VIP cabin completion and customised nose-to-tail services, has reached a new peak in customisation and quality for an undisclosed customer in the Middle East in delivering its 27th ACJ cabin.

The VVIP Airbus ACJ320, which is certificated to seat 27 passengers, has been entirely designed by the ACJC Creative Design Studio around a modern Arabic ambiance, matching the customer’s origins and tastes, and offering the latest cabin technologies.

The cabin’s customisation has been pursued to the extreme, through very subtle details. In every part of his cabin, the customer can find a discreet modern Arabic pattern, present on different materials. This includes decorative inlays on seat back-rests and leather embossing on head-rests, a bright finish satin frieze on valence panels,
back-lit ornamental glass in partitions and the head-board of the master bed, and a finely-worked plinth that helps cooling air circulate inside the zones.

But the centrepiece of this pattern redundancy is based on another spectacular design innovation in cabinetwork: a modern Arabic motif that appears back-lit on one of the main lounge’s wooden partitions. “According to his mood, the customer can light-up, from a personal digital pad, this decorative divider, like a luminous mashrabiyya,” says Sylvain Mariat, Head of ACJC Creative Design Studio.

“Every part of the cabin has been a creative and engineering design challenge,” he adds. “We committed to our customer to create an unmatched TV Lift system, hiding the large 52” screen in a low sideboard, under a totally smooth glossy surface. In addition, the TV display needed to be electrically actuated when commanded to appear, and capable of rotating through +/- 15°. And we did it!”

“At the delivery phase, our customer told us that the level of cabin quality and the ergonomics were amazing,” says Joël Frugier, General Manager of ACJC. “This VVIP cabin is the third we have delivered to this customer, showing that ACJC aims at building a strong relationship with its clients, based on long-term confidence and commitment,” he concludes.