ACTIVITIES IN 2012 • 2013

ZODIAC SEATS

KEY METRICS

€1,062.1 million IN SALES REVENUE

27.3% SHARE OF GROUP SALES REVENUE

5,796 EMPLOYEES WORLDWIDE

5 DIVISIONS

• ZODIAC SEATS FRANCE

• ZODIAC SEATS UK

• ZODIAC SEATS US

• ZODIAC SEATS SHELLS

• ZODIAC AIRBAGS

PRIMARY LOCATIONS

• France (Colomiers, Issoudun, Pusignan, Roissy).

• Germany (Hamburg).

• United Kingdom (Brackley, Camberley, Cwmbran).

• United States (Gainesville, TX; Rancho Cucamonga, CA; Santa Maria, CA; Seattle WA).

• Mexico (Chihuahua).

• Tunisia (Soliman).

• China (Tianjin).

High-flying performance

Zodiac Seats showed strong performance due to its buoyant sales, improved profitability and the completion of the integration of Contour, a specialist in top-of-the-range first class seats, which is now called Zodiac Seats UK.

Greater industrial capacities

To meet the higher production rates of aircraft manufacturers, including Boeing and Airbus, Zodiac Seats is strengthening its industrial capacity. The Tianjin assembly plant in China delivered its first seats to Hainan Airlines; the plants in Tunisia and Mexico, where a new unit for the seat shells opened, have increased production; the plant in Gainesville has been modernized. The Issoudun plant will also be expanded. Another highlight was the acquisition of the engineering office of Threesixty Aerospace, which was dedicated to Virgin Atlantic Airways seats.

Winning synergies

The entities mobilized to improve performance and innovation. They also strengthened their synergies to create the Aries business class seat and created global working groups to promote best practices in supply and engineering. Synergies were also improved with other Group entities, such as ZEO or Zodiac Aircraft Systems, to develop seats integrating IFE¹⁹ systems, such as the 5751 and Auralite designed for the retrofit market. They also strengthen their collaborations with aircraft manufacturers and airlines for example, to optimize the location of the seats on board or better integrate the toilets, especially in the Airbus A350 XWB and the Boeing B777

New products, new successes

New economy class seats brought commercial success: the Z100 selected by Scoot for its Boeing B787s and the Z300 selected by Air France for the retrofit of its Boeing B777s, by TAM and Finnair for their Airbus A350s and also by Singapore Airlines for its Airbus A350s and Boeing B777s. Qualified on the Boeing B737 and Airbus A320, Dragonfly made inroads into several Asian companies.

¹⁹ In Flight Entertainment

72 • TRAVEL JOURNAL 2012 • 2013