Cabin humidification specialist CTT Systems is hoping to get its Cair equipment adopted for use in more business aircraft. To date, the Swedish company has mainly had success in getting Cair installed on Boeing Business Jet and Airbus Corporate Jet bizliners, but it has recently been approached by airframers, including Bombardier, about possible applications on more mainstream models.

“Dry conditions can be a problem for passengers even in smaller aircraft, and especially now that they are able to fly much farther,” CTT sales and marketing vice president Peter Landquist told AIN. He said that the Cair system’s rectangular boxes can be adapted to fit into smaller fuselages with some redesign work and new ducting.

Cair has been in growing demand for private buyers of widebodies. For example, it has been chosen for five of the nine new private Boeing 747-8s undergoing completion, as well as for various 777s and A380s.

Landquist said that CTT is now pursuing more business in the retrofit market, and particularly for older BBJs. “We have already had some requests and we are trying to keep track of where aircraft go for their heavy checks, because the operators almost always do a cabin upgrade at the same time,” he explained.

Passengers and crew n aircraft fitted with Cair can enjoy comfortable relative humidity of around 20 percent (compared with just 3 to 5 percent without the system). This reduces discomfort from travel fatigue, dry skin and tired eyes, with lack of humidity being more of a problem in private and executive jets because the smaller number of passengers on board generates less natural humidity than would be found in the coach cabin of an airliner. CTT also provides a zonal drying system to counteract the damage that can be caused by excessive condensation building up in parts of the airframe.