Causeway Aero Group has acquired Pitch Aircraft Seating Systems for an undisclosed sum.

This follows the award, in March 2019, of a contract for Causeway to certify, manufacture and assemble the Pitch PF3000 (pictured above) lightweight, fixed back economy class seat at its facility in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

Causeway Aero Group CEO, Michael Rice said: “We are delighted to add the Pitch seats to Causeway’s extensive Aero Interiors portfolio as we have been huge fans of them from the outset. The seats provide a comfortable living space for the passenger, even at 28in pitch, with sculptured cushions that suit all shapes and sizes. My personal favourite feature is the fact that finally I can properly open the screen and use my laptop.”

In a statement, the company said that the Causeway team has shown “tremendous professionalism” and agility with the engineering, certification and manufacture of the PF3000. It explained that there were multiple cases of a test failure on Thursday; seats shipped back overnight; engineering review on Saturday; new designs on Sunday; drawings issued to the supply chain on Monday; new parts received and new test seats produced on Tuesday; shipped on Wednesday; and retested, successfully the next day.

Rice added: “Pitch had done an amazing job designing the seat with feng shui style focus for a high-density cabin and delivered a Great British design with wonderful aesthetics, functionality and, most importantly, high levels of durability. Causeway’s focus is to further enhance the cost, durability and serviceability of the seats to make them the economy seat of choice for operators looking to fix total cost of ownership over the life of the product. Causeway’s strategy is to sell you great quality durable seats, not spare parts for them, We will back this up with a range of new sales packages which will be introduced in the coming months, offering seats and other interiors products.”

It adds that the Pitch brand completes Causeway’s ‘nose to tail’ aero interiors capability and represents a “unique opportunity” for Causeway to have a  role in the recovery of the commercial aviation industry in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially as low-cost carriers will be a key element in regenerating travel.

While Causeway will continue to provide integration, engineering and production support to major interiors manufacturers the Pitch brand will continue and be marketed separately.