Italian helicopter completions specialist – Servizi Elicotteristici Italiani (SEI), the longtime preferred interiors provider for AgustaWestland helicopters – is to step up its efforts to become a major player in the fixed wing market.
“We are planning to start completion and refurbishment of light business jets which we think is a very interesting area of development for the future of our company,” said Massimo Isidori, SEI’s senior vice president , commercial.
“We are looking for possible partners ready to take the opportunity to cooperate with us in the US and internationally,” he said.
The company grew by almost 10 percent last year and is expecting to double that during 2008. It comes to Hamburg primarily to meet potential partners and also show off its helicopter interior designs that have proved so successful with AgustaWestland.
“We are increasing our involvement in the after-market interior refurbishment,” says Isidori. “We want to promote our capabilities on the open market. Again we think SEI America will be instrumental in opening up new opportunities in this segment.”
SEI opened its business in Philadelphia last October. The after-market refurbishment could also lead the way to direct links with other OEMs.
The Italian company is also working on R&D with AgustaWestland.
“We are concentrating on improving passenger safety and comfort as much as possible,” says Isidori. “We are presently evaluating state-of-the-art solutions for energy absorbing devices, cabin soundproofing and in-flight infotainment.
SEI has recently completed a study with Agusta Westland into a completely new liner structure that dramatically improves the acoustic comfort of the passenger cabin, with only minor impact on aircraft weight, cabin volume and accessibility for maintenance.
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Source: Flight Daily News
