Aeronexus contacted aircraft interior experts, Starling Aerospace, with the challenge of transforming 90 lie-flat seats in just six weeks. This included testing all the electrics at Starling Aerospace’s facility based near Gatwick Airport. Aeronexus also requested that the new seats for its Boeing 767-300ER have full leather upholstery, to provide the corporate jet market with a more luxurious passenger experience when flying on long-haul routes.

For this technically complex aircraft interiors project, Starling Aerospace sourced a special voltage current inverter for aircraft to domestic power, along with a software simulator tool to allow a complete function test of the seats at Starling’s premises.  Everything from the testing, fault-finding and troubleshooting to the refurbishment was achieved under one roof by Starling’s team of fitters, upholsterers and fabricators. Each seat was overhauled in accordance with the component maintenance manual and crucially for the time constraints, was certified in-house by Starling, which holds all the necessary approvals.

To achieve the contemporary, luxury interior feel that Aeronexus wanted, in the timeframe available, Starling Aerospace suggested the use of Ultraleather® which is durable, flame retardant and offers a similar luxury finish to leather. This provided an ideal solution, so all the original dark brown fabric on the lie-flat seats were replaced with stylish cream Ultraleather®.

Starling Aerospace further enhanced the look of the seats by using chocolate brown Ultraleather® for the piping to match the leather trim. To save time, it was decided not to replace all the trim but to use in-house leather restoration expertise. All of the trims were re-dyed by hand in a rich chocolate colour.

Ultraleather® was also used to recover the seat privacy screens in a tan colour to match the side arms as highlights, and chocolate brown for the leg rest. A light tan coloured Formica table replaced the original dark brown one for a more contemporary look and to help lighten the overall colour of the seat. To finish the stylish look, Starling Aerospace recovered inside the shell of the seat with Grospoint, which is a superior fabric that is both durable and meets heat, smoke and toxicity regulations.

By suggesting alternative materials and being able to provide all the services for the complete overhaul and refurbishment of 90 lie-flat seats under one roof, Starling Aerospace delivered the whole project in the six-week turnaround time. The aircraft interior company also supported Aeronexus with the re-installation of the newly refurbished seats, as well supplying and fitting new curtains and carpets and other features such as bulkhead literature pockets.