Condor Flugdienst has become the first airline customer for Lufthansa Technik’s new floor heating system ‘HeatNOW’.
The system will be installed on leisure airline Condor’s A320 aircraft fleet.
Lufthansa Technik developed HeatNOW in response to the problem of cold spots in aircraft. While the passenger cabin is zone-controlled to comfortable temperatures at outside temperatures of -52 °C, it can get as cold as -10 °C in the galleys during a flight, especially in the lower door areas, Lufthansa Technik said, due to the sometimes very cold air flow created by the differential pressure.
“These conditions not only create an uncomfortable working environment for crew members; other problems can also arise from the potential freezing,” the company stated. “In situations where an aircraft is operating in very cold weather, the temperature differences cause condensate to collect on the door seal and mechanical parts, freezing there and potentially preventing the doors from opening easily in icing conditions on the ground.”
HeatNOW is a heating system based on a patented conductive coating that effectively prevents the formation of cold areas in the aircraft. The heating pad consists of a heating layer between two additional protective layers. Connected to the on-board power, the electrically conductive layer acts as a resistor and heats itself in a self-regulating manner. The power can be regulated in various stages as required. HeatNOW has been designed to provide an even and homogeneous heating of the floor areas.
Lufthansa Technik said that conventional solutions, such as standard heated floor panels, can have high failure rates and “are also expensive and less efficient, as they can sometimes only be repaired at great expense”.
The HeatNOW system can be installed on almost any desired floor panel, in galleys and/or in seating areas. It is currently EASA-certified for Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft families.
“We chose HeatNOW primarily because the health of our crews is very important to us,” said Condor Flugdienst’s chief operating officer Christian Schmitt. “With this new heating system, we want to offer our crews a more comfortable workplace and keep them from having to stay in a partly cold working area.”
Lufthansa Technik’s product sales manager Niels Dose commented: “After having been asked by several airlines to develop a cost-effective alternative for retrofitting a floor heating system in the cockpit and cabin areas, we are now pleased to equip Condor as our first airline customer with HeatNOW. For cargo aircraft operators, HeatNOW is also extremely interesting as an additional floor heating system in the forward galley area between the cockpit and the main cargo bay, where the cargo attendants spend time during the flight. We believe we are providing a great alternative here, either as an additional heating system in already equipped aircraft or as a full retrofit solution.”
