Jet Aviation announced at EBACE 2019 the completion of a trio of major refurbishment projects: a Boeing 747 and two Gulfstream GIVs, with all three including Ka-band satcom installations. The business aviation services provider (Booth A18) also announced completing and delivering its first Ka-band installations on examples of the Gulfstream G550 and G650.
The 747 came to Jet Aviation’s Basel, Switzerland facility for heavy maintenance, during which the company performed a complete cabin interior upgrade, including development of supplemental type certificates (STCs) for ADS-B Out installation and WLAN activation. A wireless audiovisual on-demand system was also installed to enable content streaming to mobile devices.
Jet Aviation said the size and scale of the project presented significant challenges. “Coordinating four engine changes with a full cabin refurbishment, while developing an STC for approval, is incredibly demanding,” said Jet Aviation’s senior director for large-cabin program management Estelle Thorin.
The GIV refurbs included restoration of the woodwork, stripping and recovering all soft goods, and refinishing cabin sidewalls and headliners with custom material. Their cockpits were also enhanced with DU-885 LCD screens, FANS 1A, and SBB (SwiftBroadband) upgrade, and ADS-B Out systems. To minimize downtime disruptions, customers “regularly take the opportunity to combine scheduled maintenance with refurbishments and other upgrades,” noted Basel facility general manager Dirk Sapatka.
For the G550 and G650 Ka-band satcom installations, Jet Aviation’s Gulfstream team followed the OEM’s STC, delivering what the companies said is one of the highest data speeds available in the industry, designed to help support expected data expansion in coming decades. “With the 2020 mandate quickly approaching, we’ve seen a lot of demand for Ka-band installations,” said Jet Aviation senior director of Gulfstream program management Erik Vandergritt.
The company’s Basel facility employs more than 1,400 and has in-house design and engineering departments, cabinetry, upholstery, sheet metal, composite and paint shops, and can outfit jets as large as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8. To date, it has completed numerous Airbus ACJ319, ACJ320, ACJ330, ACJ340, and Boeing 737, 757, 767, and 747 aircraft. Jet Aviation is also celebrating in Geneva its partnership with Collins Aerospace, entered into with the goal of creating ADS-B Out upgrade programs for BBJ737/747 owners and operators.