Airbus subsidiary Satair has launched a new aircraft floor panel product aimed at simplifying repair and replacement of cabin floors.
Developed in collaboration with Airbus and German composites specialist Schutz, Satair says the Airbus semi-finished floor panel (ASFP) was created in response to customer feedback about challenges with traditional floor panel solutions. Made from composite materials, the ASFP can be cut down to the correct size on-site at an MRO facility, which Satair says reduces downtime during repairs and fit applications across all passenger, aisle and galley areas.
According to Satair, the ASFP offers several benefits compared to traditional floor panel products. Since it can be cut into up to three pieces, Satair says the ASFP provides a higher usage area, reducing costs and improving efficiency. “This greatly reduces the need for stocked panels and benefits our customers in not only having to bind less cash in stock, but also greatly eliminating the risk of prolonged downtime if a damaged panel is not in stock due to high area coverage of the ASFP,” says a representative for Satair.
Satair says only two part numbers of the panels are needed to cover up to 100% of an aircraft’s flooring. As an Airbus certified and developed product, it can be installed following the current Airbus Structure Repair Manual, so Satair says transition to the ASFP will be simple for customers.
The ASFP can be installed across the majority of Airbus platforms, including the A320, A330, A340, A350 and A380. The product line is currently available for single-aisle family aircraft and by April it will be available for long-range platforms.
The companies are currently developing container and cargo applications for the ASFP product line, which they expect to release by the end of 2022. Satair says these applications have different robustness requirements than floor panels in passenger areas, but the benefits they will provide will be similar. A representative for Satair says the panels for container and cargo applications are currently in the qualification stage and will be introduced to the market at a later date.
