Jet Aviation Basel, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, has signed a contract for the VVIP completion of a Boeing 747-8 cabin interior, for an undisclosed client from the Middle East.

The company’s in-house interior design studio was also awarded the design contract of the cabin interior. Following its expected arrival in Basel in early 2012, the aircraft will be completed within 24 months.

Jet Aviation Basel is the first completions centre to be contracted for the outfitting of a VVIP cabin interior of one of the eight VIP B747-8 aircraft sold to date.

“Jet Aviation Basel's contract to complete the cabin interior of a VVIP B747-8 aircraft is a validation of the investments we have made in technology and training to build the in-depth know-how of the Boeing 747-8 aircraft,” said Peter G Edwards, president of the Jet Aviation group.

This B747-8 will be the first wide-body aircraft where CATIA and Smarteam, a 3-D design software for mechanical engineering, will be used for the engineering, production and data management requirements for the entire completion process. The software was introduced at Jet Aviation Basel earlier this year.

The Basel completions centre will also build a full-size mock-up model of the aircraft so the client can experience a 1:1 view of the cabin interior for the final decision making process.

Jet Aviation Basel is a world-renowned completions and maintenance centre with in-house design and engineering departments, along with on-site cabinetry, upholstery, fiberglass and paint shops. It also provides aircraft maintenance and repair services to a wide variety of business jets. It is a factory approved service centre by Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Dassault and Gulfstream.-TradeArabia News Service