Royal Jet welcomes back refurbished flagship

 

The BBJ - one of six-strong Boeing Business Jets in the Royal Jet fleet - will be put to work on corporate and VIP private charters across the globe from its base in Abu Dhabi on the eve of what is expected to be the operator’s busiest summer in its 10-year history.

“The A6-AIN is now the pride of our fleet after her return to service,” said Shane O’Hare, president and CEO of Royal Jet. “This is the second such upgrade to our fleet and is part of Royal Jet’s strategy to ensure that we continue to raise the benchmark in the private jet travel market. All our BBJs are very individual and are five-star luxury flying hotels. It is luxury undefined when it comes to serving our VIP and corporate customers.

“The technical expertise of our project management, operations and technical teams ensured that the tag of the world’s smartest looking BBJ stayed within Royal Jet. The professionalism of our engineers and staff from quality assurance, installation and the procurement teams was reflected in this product and we are confident that our guests will appreciate the thought that went into upgrading this aircraft.”

The refurbishment was designed by Edése Doret Industrial Design (EDID), the acclaimed New York aircraft interiors consultancy that is no stranger to exotic designs, to give the BBJ (A6-AIN) a new and more modern and contemporary interior, furnishings of the highest quality, luxury seats and sleeper beds.*

“The reason for the ongoing refurbishment of our fleet is to keep our fleet interiors fresh and modern, in line with the expectations of our guests,” enthused O’Hare. “At this end of the market, we must always keep up with customer expectations and offer the very best in cutting-edge technology and luxury.”

The task of performing the multi-million upgrade fell on Sabena technics at its VIP completion centre in Bordeaux, France. As well as the cabin refurbishment, Sabena technics was responsible for performing aircraft maintenance and an in-flight entertainment AVOD upgrade, including obtaining necessary certification.

O’Hare said: “Both Edése Doret and Sabena technics’ experience in delivering world-class luxury interiors for different aircraft has been reflected in the A6-AIN and what has come back to us is literally a brand new plane. I salute the professionalism and in-house capability of the Royal Jet team for delivering a product of outstanding quality in the luxury global private jet business.”    

The new interior has a  modern look with a number of surprising material choices, including ostrich skin on the seatbacks and bulkheads and jet glass on longitudinal bulkheads. Doret also used some new finishes, such as metals covered in a new smoked nickel coating, made possible by metal specialists Techno-coat.

The aircraft also saw a new complete cabin interior design concept that was implemented on the VIP areas as well as in the Business/Economy areas incorporating combinations of exotic wood veneers, decorative polycarbonate mirrors, finished plated metallic corner protections & trims, pure marble stone and luxurious leather patterns. The lavatory and galley areas were refurbished with more or less the same material.

In terms of technology, the upgrade fitted the A6-AIN with Custom Concept Control (CCC) In-Flight Entertainment and Cabin Management Control system. This system provides a wide range of Inflight entertainment system Audio/Video sources selection including Airshow as well as provides control of Cabin lighting System, Passenger call system, GSM and Wifi system. The system configured with passenger Graphical User Interface (GUI) at each seat screen with a support of dual language (English and Arabic) and Flight Attendant Graphics User Interface at each Flight Attendant Control Stations through the use of touch screen for allowing an intuitive control of the IFE/CMS system.

The Audio/Video On Demand (AVOD) system allows passenger to simultaneously access high-definition IFE content from any monitor in the cabin, ensuring limitless In-Flight Entertainment for every flight.

It is fitted with  a cabin GSM (GSMConneX) and WIFI communication system in order to provide GSM and Internet services for aircraft passengers enabling passengers to remain connected throughout their journey.

All the VIP seats incorporate an individual 10.4in HD in-seat monitor and passenger control unit (PCU), 37in HD LCD monitor on the bulkhead of the forward lounge, GSM phones connectivity with an AeroMobile GSM system, and all flight information presented in two languages – English and Arabic.

The A6-AIN BBJ was delivered to Sabena technics on August 20, 2012 and was redelivered on June 18.