THE boss of the airline Emirates performed the official opening of a Dorset company’s new factory for building aircraft interiors.

AIM Altitude has 30 years of experience in aircraft cabin design and development.

It has moved from eight scattered sites into one facility at Aviation Business Park at Bournemouth Airport.

Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates, performed the opening.

He said had been a “dearth of quality designers and builders” in the industry but that Emirates had enjoyed a 13-year relationship with Aim Altitude.

“One of the most interesting and fun parts of my job is the design and build of the interior cabins,” he said.

Guests included representatives of Airbus and Boeing, Christchurch MP Chris Chope and the town’s deputy mayor Cllr Nick Geary.

Mark Edwards, CEO of AIM Altitude, said: “We were delighted to be able to welcome such esteemed guests to our new facility and we are very grateful to Sir Tim Clark for his role in the official opening.

“This also provided the opportunity to thank our staff for their hard work over the past year and we hope that the new facility will aid them in continuing to create world-leading cabin interiors.”

Wayne Ball, group operations director with AIM Altitude, said the company had been scattered over multiple sites, including one in Boscombe and old buildings at the airport.

“These were aircraft hangars from the Second World War, built for the American air force. They were out of date and we had lots of transport and movement around the sites,” he said.

“It’s enabled us to have everybody in one facility as opposed to eight different locations.”

He added: “It really does enable us to give a much more professional aspect to our customers.”

Building the new factory was held up for a year while 27 smooth snakes and 17 sand lizards were removed from the site under the control of Natural England.

The factory includes new machinery and an extra paint-and-bake booth, bringing the total to four, as well as an integrated preparation area to serve both paint and trim.

The company says the factory has been built on lean principles, reducing the distance parts travel during manufacturing, improving storage, shortening communications between departments and improving visual management.

A customer experience area has been added to give customers the chance to see existing products in a dedicated space, as well as a demonstration area where they can see products as they develop.