Fokker Aircraft Services (Stand 1338) is here promoting its Direct View cabin surveillance system for VIP aircraft. Devised for flight attendants, it has a positive knock-on effect on the cabin design. The first example of Direct View was installed in a converted Airbus A320 delivered in April at Fokker’s facility in Woensdrecht, Netherlands.

The product is intended as a solution to allow attendants to have a direct view of every passenger during takeoff and landing. To permit this, cabin designers often have to include glass windows and other see-through arrangements in the dividing walls, Stephen Hands, Fokker Aircraft Services’ v-p for marketing and sales, told AIN. Therefore the aircraft’s owner has to choose between such layout arrangements or adding flight attendants.

Fokker’s system makes the flight attendant’s job easier. Thanks to cameras, he or she can keep passengers in sight even though they are seated in various areas, giving cabin designers more freedom. “We went to EASA and could justify the airworthiness of the system because we understand all the aspects of operating it,” Hands said.

Geneva-based operator Masterjet took possession of the A320 fitted with Direct View. The aircraft also features a five-section cabin layout, including a private suite with bedroom, bathroom and office. Soundproofing brings down cabin noise to 52 to 53 dB “in the main private and lounge areas.”

During the interior design process, Fokker used the Catia software program to have the customer virtually walking through the aircraft. “We could even have him lying down on the bed and look upwards, which helped locate the lamps,” Hands explained. Moreover, Catia enabled Fokker to eliminate most fit-checks (a process where technicians check pieces of furniture fit in their place, before doing some polishing). This accelerated the assembly, Hands emphasized.