Etihad Airways Engineering has signed an agreement with Diehl Aerosystems to jointly design, manufacture and install the first serial produced 3D-printed cabin plastic part on an aircraft for one of its customers.
Additive manufacturing, commonly referred to as 3D-printing reduces lead time in design, decreases production cost of and enables speedier manufacturing.
Etihad Airways Engineering and Diehlhave collaborated to develop and manufacture an inflight entertainment (IFE) cover plate which will be installed in economy seats on several aircraft of a Middle Eastern airline.
The two companies plan to create a range of products based on the experience gained from this pilot project.
This is just as Etihad Aviation Group has announced the appointment of Robin Kamark as Chief Executive Officer, Airline Equity Partners.
Kamark will be responsible for leading and developing the Group’s minority equity investment strategy, which includes stakes in airberlin, Alitalia, Jet Airways, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Etihad Regional and Virgin Australia.