Global aircraft seating manufacturer Recaro plans to commence sourcing from India in collaboration with local industry to support the mega orders that it has recently bagged from India-based airlines.
Speaking to businessline, Recaro’s Chief Executive Mark Hiller said that the global aircraft seat manufacturer will start sourcing activities for “some materials” used for seat dressings from India.
“We will be sourcing seat dress covers… We are also looking at other components that can be sourced from India,” Hiller said.
“This will not only help Indian airlines source Recaro-certified or authorised dress covers locally, but also provide an opportunity for an Indian company to export them to Recaro at a competitive price.”
Accordingly, the project to source dressing materials from India is expected to be finalised by the end of 2024.
Recently, the company’s seats were selected by major airline, IndiGo, for its premium product, IndiGo Stretch. Recaro will provide its R5 business class seats for narrow-body aircraft to IndiGo. These seats will be installed in 45 A321 Neo, while R2 will be fixed in economy class.
In total, IndiGo has ordered a total of 45 shipsets to meet this upgrade, with each A321neo aircraft featuring 12 business class seats and 208 economy class seats.
Besides, the seat manufacturer will provide the complete cabin layover in IndiGo A321 XLRs. The airline has ordered over 60 XLRs, which will be delivered from 2025 onwards.
Furthermore, Recaro has also bagged orders for more than 20,000 economy and 2,500 premium economy seats from Air India.
“We have enough capacity at our sites in Germany, Poland and South Africa to fulfil the demand from airlines in India,” Hiller said.
The price for the seats vary but on average, an economy class seat costs about €5,000 (approximately ₹4,52, 500/-) while a business class seat can be above €100,000 (₹90,50,000/-).
According to Hiller, seats on India’s domestic aircraft are getting more premium as passengers look for high-quality, comfortable, and premium seating.
“The first look in the aircraft cabin is at the seats and how beautifully they are dressed up. The selection of materials, colour design, and stitching patterns makes a big impact on the seat look and comfort.”
“The laminated dress covers with quilted pattern, contrast stitching, and logo tags on the dress covers certainly enhance the seat look and make it more premium. This trend has come from the automotive sector into the aviation space.”