APEX FTE EXPO 2026: Expliseat Charts Growth Across Regions, Aircraft Types, and Customer Segments
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As of August 2026, Expliseat’s products are flying on over 400 aircraft across more than 25 airlines. That number is soon to rise, with the company recently having become an approved seating supplier for the CRJ platform in partnership with MHIRJ.
Ahead of Expliseat’s presence at the APEX FTE EXPO at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Center in Singapore from November 18-19, where it will announce a new Asia-Pacific-based customer for its Embraer program, VP Strategy and Marketing Antonio Ficca shared how the business has remained resilient in the face of widespread supply chain challenges and detailed the company’s continued international growth strategy.
Expliseat has long been following a roadmap for expansion. It opened a 6,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Angers, France in September 2024 before going on to secure US$41 million in funding in mid-2025 to focus on growing its presence in North America. This remarkable growth has taken place while other major stalwarts in the aircraft seating industry have struggled with serious delays to long-planned deliveries.
Maintaining a Watertight Supply Chain
Ficca noted that while its supply chain challenges are slightly different to the likes of Collins Aerospace, for example, responding to potential supply chain instability actually led the company to create a stronger, more reliable partner network.
“Because our seats are built on advanced carbon fiber and titanium technologies, our supplier ecosystem differs from that of traditional seat manufacturers, and so do the challenges that come with it.
“Carbon fiber is a highly specialized aerospace material with a limited number of qualified sources worldwide. When availability tightens across the industry, it affects the entire value chain, and we have had to manage through it.
“The past few years have shown us that resilience is an industrial mindset as much as a supply chain capability,” he explained. “Rather than slowing us down, those experiences accelerated our industrial transformation. We strengthened our supplier network, diversified strategic sourcing, secured long-term partnerships and invested heavily in production planning and industrial capabilities.”
Specifically, Expliseat invested in digital tools and focused on procedures that ensured operational excellence.
Moreover, Ficca believes that offering a clear value proposition is key to market resilience and longevity.
“Our order book does not rest on filling gaps when larger suppliers fall behind,” he said. “It rests on the structural value of a lighter seat: lower fuel burn, lower emissions, lower operating cost. Demand built on that kind of value holds through the cycles that hit our industry.
The Importance of Staying Close to Customers
“Resilience also means staying close to customers and moving quickly as conditions change,” Ficca continued. “Serving operators across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific puts us where cabin decisions are actually made.”
Expliseat has opened new offices in Montreal to support Jazz, the operator of Air Canada Express, who signed a deal to install its TiSeat 2 V product on 25 Dash 8-400 aircraft; as well as in Singapore, the focus of its next stage of growth. “It is one of the largest and fastest-growing aviation markets in the world, which is why we opened an office there, closer to the airlines and to the regional and single-aisle fleets that define the region,” he stated.
These specific markets, North America and Asia-Pacific, are actually a driving force behind Expliseat’s diversification into a premium product. TiSeat S, which was unveiled at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, is a business-class seat for regional aircraft designed to reduce weight by up to 40 percent compared to traditional options. It is due to achieve certification next year.
Ficca noted, “Regional aviation has historically received far less attention on premium experience, yet regional cabins now generate close to 30 percent of network airline revenue.” Airlines increasingly want a consistent premium experience across their regional and mainline fleets. That expectation is strong in North America and rising across Asia-Pacific, where premium regional travel is a growing priority for carriers.
“Regional business class has seen very little innovation in twenty years. We saw an opportunity to rethink business class through Expliseat’s unique expertise in lightweight engineering: a business-class seat significantly lighter than conventional solutions, with no compromise on comfort or functionality.”
“It shares its architecture with TiSeat 2X for a coherent nose-to-tail solution,” he added. “The market response has been extremely encouraging. We have already secured an undisclosed launch customer for the regional platform, and we are now adapting the product for the single-aisle market, which form the backbone of many Asia-Pacific fleets and represent a significant long-term opportunity for us. Strategically, we are becoming a more global and more diversified company.”
The Growth Continues
Ficca reiterated that the company’s growth spans an increasing number of geographies and aircraft types. “North America was our first international growth market, and our work with Jazeera Airways has since extended our reach into the single-aisle segment and opened opportunities in new regions.”
He is referring to Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways’ decision to install Expliseat’s TiSeat 2X lite and TiSeat 2X prime configurations onboard its single-aisle fleets. The inaugural TiSeat 2X flight on November 28, 2025, marked the entry into service of the product on an Airbus A320neo.
“Over the next five years, our goal is to keep pioneering lightweight technology while becoming a global industrial partner to airlines and aircraft manufacturers across every major region,” Ficca said.
“Expliseat is proud of its shift from a business built largely on retrofit toward linefit installations, as well as its maturation from a supplier of regional aircraft seating to support single-aisle jets,” he concluded.
Expliseat will be based at Stand 100 on the show floor during the APEX FTE EXPO event. Find out more or register here.