The photoluminescent floor strips that guide a cabin evacuation may not seem like a promising target for innovation, but UK cabin lighting maker Cobalt Aerospace saw an opportunity to bring a standard product up-to-date with modern materials and manufacturing processes, improving durability and slashing the price by two-thirds.
Compared to existing products, the GLS-7 strips launched at AIX 2019 last longer, are more water resistant and, thanks to a continuous production process, can be sold in strips of any length or even by the roll.
Director Dan Rust says a typical Boeing 737 installation would come in at around $2,000, as opposed to $9,000 from established rivals. Operators of smaller aircraft could expect to pay as little as several hundred dollars for the materials needed for an installation – carried out, for example, during a cabin refurbishment.
Cobalt also hopes to disrupt the way these products are sold, offering GLS-7 in a fixed-price online ordering system it likens to Amazon Prime.
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Source: Flight Daily News
