AA11: Carlisle looks to get on board Asia's indigenous airliners

US firm Carlisle Interconnect Technologies has technology present on a large number of today's airliners, and is determined to play a major role in Asia's next generation of indigenous airliners.

"From an aerospace perspective the Asia Pacific is a new market," says Jett Fu, the Asia Pacific sales director of Carlisle. "This market has a long way to go."

The company designs and produces a range of key aerospace products, such as cable assemblies, racks, trays, and electronic flight bag systems. Fu notes that 80% of the Boeing 787 aircraft's wires and cables come from Carlisle, which also has a major presence on a number of other prestigious aircraft, such as the Airbus A380.

Carlisle is also participating in major regional aircraft programmes, such as the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), the Comac ARJ21, and Comac's developmental C919.

"We produce far more than wires and cables," says Fu. "We also undertake the design and manufacture of complicated systems such as harnesses."

Fu says the main thrust of Carlisle's marketing efforts in the region is educating regional airframers about the importance of durable systems. He feels that sometimes manufacturers place too much emphasis on the upfront service price, and not long-term lifecycle costs.

"Asia's aerospace industry is still very young, and this means we have to do lots of brand awareness," says Fu. "Our products are one generation ahead of what's available locally, but we need to show customers that our products provide true savings in the form of energy efficiency and better design."

He notes that in ten years aircraft such as the C919 and MRJ will be flying, and the next generation of Asian airliners will be more efficient.

"Future airplanes will see more data flowing," adds Fu. "Data will increasingly drive aviation, and we sell the systems to cater to this."