After earning record-setting revenue last year, Hamburg, Germany-based MRO Lufthansa Technik (Booth H72) is showcasing at EBACE 2023 some of the innovations it’s bringing to aircraft interiors. The evolution of its nice cabin management system (CMS) and sustainability initiatives are among the highlights, said Dr. Wassef Ayadi, LHT’s senior director of customer relations, OEM, and special engineering services.
The latest iteration of LHT’s nice CMS, which is now standard equipment on the Bombardier Challenger 3500, features advanced artificial intelligence-driven voice command for controlling cabin equipment, bringing home- and office-like experiences to the sky. The nice voice command software is self-contained in the CMS and thus requires no internet connectivity, unlike conventional voice-command systems, and LHT is continuing to develop the library of commands the multilingual system can handle.
On a grander scale, the nice OS is evolving into a “customer-centric and cloud-based open software platform,” Ayadi said, a concept similar to “what is happening in the iPhone world.” Though next-gen CMS hardware will be introduced when major technological advances warrant, all interim upgrades will be software-based and apply to current and recent generations of nice.
For end users, the evolved nice will also support customization and remote system configuration via the internet, allowing OEMs and fleet operators to create their own branded versions of the CMS and change configurations in-flight or for select flights, providing “individualized experiences within the cabin environment,” Ayadi said.
At the company's EBACE booth, a small V-cabin (V for virtual) environment allows visitors to don virtual-reality devices and activate cabin systems and equipment via nice virtually. That includes a curved OLED display screen set in a wall-mounted structure composed of lightweight recyclable materials, created in collaboration with Austrian interiors specialist F/List, an an example of its cabin sustainability initiatives.
Aeroflax is another sustainability innovation. A flax-based replacement for glass fiber or carbon fiber parts such as sidewalls and ceiling panels, the fabric has very low density and good mechanical properties and provides a 20 percent weight savings over glass or carbon fiber. LHT developed Aeroflax with German MRO Bcomp. Comprised of flax fibers, biological resin, and a proprietary mix of flame-retardant additives, Aeroflax fabric is renewable and meets all flammability standards.
Meanwhile, a model of a shark on display may seem out of place, except that its “skin” is actually LHT’s in-development AeroShark drag-reduction coating. A bionic film, AeroShark mimics the hydrodynamic drag-reducing properties of sharkskin and has the potential to reduce fuel consumption by up to 1 percent by optimizing airflow, according to LHT, thereby reducing fuel costs and carbon footprints.
LHT is also displaying blended, curved screens and components anticipated for tomorrow’s eVTOLs, as the company’s designers and engineers move forward on defining the interior look, feel, and functionality of these next-generation vehicles.
Despite what it called “a challenging environment” of supply-chain bottlenecks and skilled labor shortages, LHT reported that its revenue and earnings increased “significantly” in fiscal 2022 to €5.6 ($6.18) billion and a record-setting €511 million, respectively.
LHT’s VIP completions and refurbishment services have remained a bright spot throughout, said CEO Soeren Stark. “Over the last three years, we haven’t seen less workload than the years before,” he said. “There’s still a lot of demand in the [VIP] market.”
Given that backdrop, Stark is “very optimistic” regarding the VIP business going forward and LHT is investing a “high double-digit million euro” sum in a new interiors workshop and adjoining paint center at its Hamburg completion center. The back shops are now housed in a 1950s-era complex, making renovations “impossible in economic terms,” said Stark. The new facilities, slated to open in 2025, will help optimize processes and create more efficiencies, he said.
For the year, LHT signed 706 new contracts, including 28 with new customers, worth €9.6 ($10.6) billion, and ended 2022 with 4,242 aircraft operated by some 800 customers under service contracts. After trimming its workforce of 25,000 by 20 percent following the start of the pandemic, LHT hired more than 2,100 employees last year and plans to add some 4,000 this year.
Looking ahead, LHT expects the upward trend in air travel to continue to drive demand for maintenance services and predicts the global MRO market could exceed pre-pandemic levels as early as this year, with a total volume of some €96 billion.