Airbus has rebranded its corporate jets division as Airbus ACJ, with new aircraft colors and clearer, more consistent names. Each model in the company’s stable of corporate jet offerings will now be preceded by “ACJ,” with the A318 becoming the ACJ318 and so on, all the way up to the mega-mother of all bizliners, the ACJ380.
The branding was updated “to show the commonality we have throughout the family,” Francois Chazelle, Airbus Corporate Jets vice president, said yesterday. “The length of the fuselage may change, but you’re still in an Airbus corporate jet.”
The rebranding includes a new color scheme, with metallic blue shading on most of the ACJ fuselage and tail, “highlighted by flowing curves that echo the color schemes often chosen by Airbus corporate jet customers,” the company said. The jets also will sport a new Airbus Corporate Jets logo.
Airbus (Stand 7071) delivered 15 corporate jets in 2010, valued at $1.5 billion. Total orders for Airbus corporate and VIP aircraft have surpassed 170, with 110 A320-family jets and 60 VIP and government widebodies.
Accompanying Chazelle at the announcement were Andrea Zanetto, chief executive of VIP charter operator Fly Comlux and Eric Scheidt, flight operations manager with K5-Aviation. Airbus at EBACE is featuring on static display an ACJ320 Prestige managed by Comlux Aviation of Kloten, Switzerland, and an ACJ319 operated by K5-Aviation of Gammelsdorf, Germany–the first joint appearance of these aircraft.
Comlux says it is the largest Airbus VIP charter operator, currently fielding six Airbus corporate jets, with two ACJ319s on order.
The VVIP cabin of the ACJ320 Prestige was the first delivered by Comlux America of Indianapolis, Indiana, the Comlux Group completion center established just over two years ago. Fokker Services completed K5-Aviation’s cabin.
Airbus Corporate Jet Center of Toulouse, France, which provides cabin outfitting for the ACJ family of aircraft, reported delivery of its first VIP cabin to a Chinese customer, Deer Jet Co. of Beijing, which it said is the largest VIP charter provider in the People’s Republic of China. The Deer Jet ACJ319 was “ferried to China just a few days ago,” and features 20 flat-bed, cocoon seats manufactured by B/E Aerospace, all with dedicated video screens.
The Airbus completion center said it is the first in the VIP cabin market to offer ACJ customers high-definition displays based on the latest HDMI interface standard. The center “also believes that it is the first on the market” to offer customers full HD quality on up to four screens in each private area simultaneously, either from a local HD source such as a Blu-Ray player or from an external device with an HDMI plug, such as a video game console or laptop.
