Airbus Upgrade Services' electronic catalogue has reached the milestone of 100 items available on-line, on the Airbus Customer Services "Airbus|World" secured portal, offering customers the ability to purchase aircraft upgrades 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Airbus Upgrade Services e-Catalogue is one of the modules of Air+ by Airbus, the comprehensive portfolio of support and services created by Airbus to enable its customers to meet their business objectives. Thanks to its unique modularity concept Air+ by Airbus offers Airbus customers the possibility to choose amongst a wide range of advanced services the modules they need, thus reducing their operating costs.

This successful e-Catalogue was developed to answer airlines and leasing companies' demand for reduced and secured retrofit lead-times for their in-service fleet. Thanks to this e-tool Airbus customers can also shorten their decision-making cycle for investment.

Airbus customers find in the Upgrade Services e-Catalogue all information required to assess the repercussions of upgrading their aircraft: equipment information, configuration pre-requisite information, estimated man-hours and elapsed time for embodiment, and Service Bulletin and components lead-times with prices for most of the items.

Airbus Upgrade Services e-Catalogue covers A320, A330/340 and A300/310 families, and proposes pre-packaged modifications for all parts of the aircraft. The systems section covers a wide range of upgrades such as avionics, landing gear, structures, fuel, and provides a list of modifications that will enable operators to keep their aircraft up-to-date with the latest system developments in technology and airworthiness regulations. The cabin section covers the cabin and related systems subjects such as deadbolt, cockpit door security system, over water operation, and displays items that will help modify cabins for improved passenger comfort or to comply with regulations.

Thanks to Airbus Upgrade Services e-Catalogue the lead-times for aircraft upgrades have been reduced drastically and now airlines are able to manage efficiently their in-service aircraft upgrades. Airlines planning to switch an aircraft to another route may need to turn a three-class set-up into a two-class layout, or adapt the navigation systems to different requirements with little time to spare. Through the e-Catalogue, customers can assess the cost and the feasibility of their request, and order the service bulletin and the components.

With the necessity for airlines to harmonize their fleet to reduce cost, and maintain the residual value of their aircraft, the need for quick access to information and reduced lead-times for modifications will continue to grow. To cater for this increasing demand, the catalogue is growing constantly. Additional features like shopping basket, customized access, fleet data availability, cabin modular approach, and overall improved user-friendliness are currently under development, and will be delivered by the end of 2006.

This 100th item in Upgrade Services e-Catalogue is a significant milestone that underlines the successful strategy of Airbus in using the best of the web technology and proposing advanced on-line services that bring added value to its customers.

A leading aircraft manufacturer with the most modern and comprehensive product line on the market, Airbus is a global company with design and manufacturing facilities in France, Germany, the UK, and Spain as well as subsidiaries in the U.S., China, Japan and in the Middle East. Headquartered in Toulouse, France, Airbus is an EADS joint company with BAE Systems.

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