A vegan helicopter interior - Airbus meets customer request

When a valued customer specified that his new helicopter must have an interior that was fully vegan, Airbus Corporate Helicopters’ (ACH) design team rose to the occasion. The resulting ACH145 has now been delivered to German construction entrepreneur Dr Urs Brunner who insisted on the requirement at the urging of his wife, ethical fashion pioneer Daniela Brunner.

Its cabin is fitted with ACH’s clean and modern ACH Line interior configuration in a grey theme but the leather elements essential to its luxury feel are replaced with Ultraleather which captures the visual and tactile leather experience with comparable durability.

Items that had to be specially designed and fabricated in the replacement material include the six passenger seats, central storage cabinet, rear partition and cockpit controls cuffs.

Ms Brunner, founding owner of specialist fashion house Giulia & Romeo, which has no animal products involved in its range and donates all its profits to animal welfare, wanted the helicopter to be consistent with her ethical values.

Head of ACH, Frederic Lemos, said: “We’re very proud of our team’s work in creating this bespoke ACH Line interior. The material that we used is certified for aviation use and is hard wearing, but it can only be stretched in one direction which means it is a challenge to work with, particularly on the seats.

“This is where the craftsmanship of our hands-on team became crucial and I am delighted to say that we found a practical way to meet our customer’s desires which also looks superb.”

Dr Brunner, an experienced helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, said: “We both greatly appreciate the skill and imagination that went into devising and installing this interior.”