Luxair, the flag carrier airline of Luxembourg, planned to offer its customers increased comfort on its longer routes during the winter season. They approached Stirling Dynamics for support with the evaluation of different configuration options. The customer wanted to be able to switch easily between the different layouts (full-eco and two-class layout) within one day without too many changes to the aircraft. Additionally, the customer chose Stirling Dynamics to provide the end-to-end project management of this modification programme, including the engineering, certification, and delivery of all the required cabin parts to their maintenance organisation.
Stirling Dynamics approached this project using its innovative digital platform, Cabin Mod Hub (CMH). CMH creates various cabin configuration options; one of the platform’s key features is the ability to connect different suppliers for modification programmes. Additionally, Luxair’s B737 fleet had been previously digitized within the CMH core module, its Cabin Layout Management (CLM) tool, and complete digital twins of the Luxair cabins were available. From this, Stirling Dynamics was able to generate many potential options for certifiable cabin layouts.
According to customer needs, Stirling Dynamics proposed a variety of post-mod layout options. The layout chosen provided 12 Business Class seats, separated from the eco class. Due to the simulations created in Stirling’s Cabin Layout Management tool, the selected layout allowed switching between full eco and two class layouts (without PSU modification) according to seasonal requirements. This option was attractive to the customer as it would save significant installation time during the modification by Luxair’s MRO.
Within 10-weeks, Stirling Dynamics provided a complete modification kit. The kit included custom, leather business class seats made to Luxair’s high-quality standards and style.
As this project took place during the peak of the Covid pandemic, the lead times were challenging. However, a perfect layout was generated quickly from the Cabin Layout Management (CLM) tool; the CLM system considers all certification requirements. Therefore, the new cabin configuration was certified in record time, and the necessary automated documentation was generated. Stirling Dynamics’ project management team assured that parts from US, UK, UAE, German, and Eastern European suppliers arrived on time. Stirling Dynamic also provided on-site support during the installation in Luxemburg, ensuring all last-minute challenges could be solved during the planned implementation time, and the first flight of the impressive new cabin configuration was on schedule.
Christoph Blaha, Vice President Technical Service at Luxair commented:
The appearance of our new business class is very elegant and professionally delivered by Stirling Dynamics. The Stirling team was extremely diligent during the project and solved various challenges in the supply chain caused by the Covid pandemic. They ensured that we were on time with our B737 Business Class debut, and we appreciated their excellent on-site support during the first installation in Luxemburg.