AIM Altitude (Aircraft Interiors Manufacturers) was a main British manufacturer of

aircraft cabin An aircraft cabin is the section of an aircraft in which passengers travel. Most modern commercial aircraft are pressurized, as cruising altitudes are high enough such that the surrounding atmosphere is too thin for passengers and crew to bre ...

s, and their components, for

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

History

The original company was registered on 24 June 1940. It became known as AIM Aviation in 1990. W.Henshall & Sons Ltd made components for aircraft interiors. By the 1970s, the company was known as Henshall Group, which also contained Fliteform of Heathrow. In 1978 the Aircraft Interiors Manufacturers Group was formed from four companies. By the 1980s the group was called AIM Group plc, and contained Jecco Aviation of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. AIM Group was listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 1982, valuing the group at £14.7m In the 1960s, British European Airways (BEA) carried their equipment. In the 1990s it sponsored the Air League Flying Scholarship competition. AIM Aviation became AIM Altitude in 2014.

Structure

It is situated to the west of the A318 in

Byfleet Byfleet is a village in Surrey, England. It is located in the far east of the borough of Woking, around east of West Byfleet, from which it is separated by the M25 motorway and the Wey Navigation. The village is of medieval origin. Its winding ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, between the M25 and A318, and close to the River Wey. Byfleet & New Haw railway station is around 300 metres to the north.

Divisions

* AIM Research & Development was in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

* Henshall Bonded Assemblies of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

became AIM Composites, and made fire-proof fabrics with

Nomex Nomex is a flame-resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967. Properties Nomex and related aramid polymers are related to nylon, but have aromatic backbones, and hence are more rigid and mo ...

;Flitelam
/ref> AIM Composites is now off the A10 on the Denny End Industrial Estate in Denny End in South Cambridgeshire * Jecco Aviation of Dorset made aircraft seating; Jecco was founded in 1926.

Products

In the 1980s, the company was experienced with fitting interiors for the

British Aerospace 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

and

BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...

. It also makes interiors for helicopters.

References

External links

AIM Altitude
{{Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom Aircraft cabin components Aircraft component manufacturers of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1940 Companies based in Cambridgeshire Companies based in Surrey Manufacturing companies established in 1940 South Cambridgeshire District