It’s been a week now since we packed up our exhibition stand at Hamburg Messe and all headed home after the first Aircraft Interiors Expo in two years.
AIX 2022 felt special in so many ways: an industry showing the resilience and drive to bounce back after a challenging couple of years; a real feeling that airlines, seat manufacturers and suppliers are gearing up for increased activity; and Acro delivering our best ever stand and launching our latest product – the innovative, all new Series 9.
The first two days were especially busy with pre-booked meetings non-stop from 9am until 5pm, while day three kept up the pace, on what is often a quieter day, with airlines popping in to see us – – perhaps in response to the interest generated over the first two days in all of the exciting new developments at Acro.
We were pleased to show the full range of Acro products from the proven Series 6 to the all-new Series 9, to a diverse mix of airlines, lease companies and OEMs.
On a personal level, I was delighted to join my sales colleagues in talking existing and potential customers through Acro’s product offering, and knowing the enormous effort, determination and relentless attention to detail from our Engineering team, I must admit to a sense of pride in what we’ve achieved.
It was great to receive their feedback on all the products, but especially rewarding to hear a lot of positive comments about Series 9 – more living space, more lightweight and more robust – it really seems to have hit the mark.
Some other themes emerged too. In particular, the challenge to improve our industry’s sustainability, and this is very much a focus area for Acro. Whether it’s establishing an environmentally responsible manufacturing site, analysing the lifecycle environmental impact of our products, or applying reduce/reuse/recycle principles to the product design, we really feel a responsibility to drive this going forward.
Another theme was customisation – no airline is the same, and we at Acro pride ourselves on our ability to respond with agility to meet each airlines individual requirements. Listening is key to this, to properly understand the priorities and operational needs of each customer and then tailor our offer accordingly.
And finally, innovation. We’re committed to driving innovation in product and process so that we can be better every day. AIX 2022 illustrated that more than ever, in a dynamic environment where you never know what’s around the corner, it’s imperative to be able to stay ahead of the game.
As the dust settles on AIX 2022, we’re already starting to look ahead to AIX 2023, with all the chat in the airport and on the plane home about next year’s stand and the products that we will be able to showcase there. So, watch out Hamburg, Acro is coming back to make an even bigger and better impact in 2023.
