Leathercare Renovations Aircraft Leather Interior Repair, Refurbishment and Maintenance Services

Leathercare Renovations, established in 1988, is an experienced aircraft leather refurbishment service and supplier of aircraft leather cleaner and protection lotions to the aviation industry.

The company is unique in that no other aircraft leather refurbishment company can trace its origins and heritage back to the renovation department of the most prestigious tannery and leather supplier, ‘Connolly Leather Ltd’ of London.

Connolly Leather Ltd (1878-2002)

We are the only independent leather renovation company that Connolly Leather ever officially endorsed and permitted to use their trademark name for the process, ‘Connollising’.

Since 1878, Connolly Leather has supplied quality, finished leather to customers such as the British Royal Family, British Airways [Concord], Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lotus, Morgan to name & few.

Connolly Leather has been used in places such as The House of Commons, The House of Lords, The British Museum and the QE2, as well as many prestigious hotels and buildings worldwide.

Our tannery background

As two time served ‘Connolly Leather’ Renovation Department employees, our training was isolating and resolving problems within the leather industry in both traditional and modern leather refurbishing systems.

For more than 25 years, we have been continuing to offer this expertise and knowledge. We have established a reputation worldwide as the benchmark company to engage with regarding customer advice, leather care and maintenance and refurbishment services. In our own leather refurbishment services, only genuine tannery finishes are used.

Aircraft leather interior maintenance services

Our involvement with aircraft goes back more than 20 years, when the company was asked by the Ministry of Defence to carry out refurbishment to the leather arms of the ‘Queen’s Flight’. Leathercare Renovations now provides a variation of maintenance services on Hawker Corporate Jets on behalf of Marshall Aviation Services and the fleet of Hawker Jets for Net Jets Europe.

In 2007, the company was asked on behalf of Ocean Sky to perform its "Level Three" refurbishment to the leather upholstery of the Challenger 604, prior to the filming of the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. A ‘Level One’ on-site service was then requested following completion of filming. Other projects include a level two service on a Fairchild Dornier 328 Jet for Sun Air on-site in Denmark, as well as a number of Citation aircraft at their service facility at Manchester Airport, UK.

We also supply our Concentrated Leather Cleaner and Antibacterial Conditioning Lotion to Thomson Airways at their service facilities at Luton & Manchester Airports. We have had many years’ experience to evolve and develop our aircraft leather services into a very flexible package working around and alongside other maintenance services the aircraft may be in for.

Minimal materials are required and as a result, we have been able to mobilise and attend aircraft within or outside the UK at very short notice.

Leathercare Renovations have divided their Aircraft Maintenance Services into three ‘LEVEL’ packages, designed for the upkeep of leather interior trim on all aircraft.

The first two are the most popular packages chosen by current contract customers, as they can be carried out at the aircraft’s service location, wherever in the world, minimising down time and inconvenience.

The basic packages include:

• Level One: an on-site, intensive deep clean, ink removal and conditioning with an antibacterial protection lotion
• Level Two: an on-site, intensive deep clean and ink removal, with a cosmetic renovation of prominent surface scuffs and wear, followed by conditioning with an antibacterial protection lotion
• Level Three: fully refinishing of existing leather upholstery. An intensive, deep clean can repair any deeper scuffs and scratches, refinish to the original colour and relacquer to customers’ particular lustre specifications. This is followed by conditioning with an antibacterial protection lotion

(Level Three service requires a specific workshop spraying environment and seating / trim removal from the aircraft)

Regular maintenance and antibacterial protection benefits

Leathercare Renovations’ current aircraft service centre contracts such as Net Jets Europe and Marshall Aviation Services at Chester, UK, have chosen to offer a level One or Two package to all aircraft, while they are in for any routine servicing.

This, we believe was initially for visual impact for the customer on collection. What they actually discovered was that the treatment has also prolonging the life and appearance of leather upholstery, avoiding the need for any premature, expensive reupholstery repairs.

Plus the knowledge that the leather has been coated a protective lotion with ‘leather aroma’ and MicroFresh© protection to neutralise the usual 99.9% ‘bacteria/mould’ growth they may have built up from food/drink spills or ‘bodily fluid’ contamination.

Safety-tested leather refurbishment services for aircraft

All materials and processes from Leathercare Renovations have obviously had to undergo rigorous testing to ensure they do not detrimentally affect the existing leather’s CRIB rating.

Recent flammability testing, in accordance with EASA CS25.853 (a), found that our treatment to the leather samples IMPROVED the rating.

A copy of this report is available upon request and the company’s technicians also have Human Factors Certification, which is required by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

Why choose Leathercare renovations?

The positive feedback we have had from our current aircraft customers / owners with regards the impact regular use of our services has had on the lifespan and appearance of their leather interiors has caused us to explore the option of expanding this area of our business.

Current ‘retail’ customers of ‘preowned’ aircraft have found using one of our Level Services been a very cost-effective solution to convincing potential customers of a very ‘well maintained’ aircraft with minimal outlay.

You may already use or have an in-house leather technician, but wouldn’t you prefer to use a company with our tannery experience, background and heritage within the leather industry rather than someone who possibly attended a two or three day ‘leather repair course’ once upon a time?

If you have fleet of aircraft where dusting over occasionally with a ‘leather wipe’ is no longer improving the cabin appearance, then contact us to discuss how we may be able to help.