Sarah Mespelt Larranaga details Bombardier Global 6500 completion and cross-sector design work
Why It MattersCompletion work increasingly treats connectivity, lighting, acoustics and materials as one integrated system, while facility capacity constrained by ever-larger ultra-long-range jets shapes how much of that integration a given shop can deliver.
What happened
Sarah Mespelt Larranaga, founder of Sarah Larranaga Aviation Design, has described a custom completion on a Bombardier Global 6500 that integrated Starlink high-speed connectivity, a large-format 4K OLED display, a custom-tuned digital surround-sound system, Alto Bluetooth audio and video integration, and a full-spectrum RGBW LED mood-lighting system capable of producing millions of colour combinations.
The cabin's acoustic experience was treated as part of the overall design from the outset, with speaker placement, cabinetry, interior architecture and materials coordinated together. Custom leather accessories were developed with Aeristo, while chinaware, crystal, flatware and blankets were coordinated with Euler. The aircraft's exterior received a custom silver super-metallic paint finish.
Larranaga's background spans aviation design, engineering and aircraft completion, and she said her design philosophy treats technology, luxury materials and aviation engineering as cohesive parts of a single environment rather than separately developed elements. In a separate project, she developed a custom interior for a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter for a gaming client, incorporating aviation-grade leather, Starlink connectivity, a 4K OLED display, a custom-tuned digital surround-sound system, full-spectrum RGBW LED mood lighting, Alto Bluetooth integration and custom leather accessories by Aeristo.
Facility capacity and future plans
Larranaga cited limited capacity at completion, refurbishment and paint facilities as a significant industry issue, compounded by the growing physical size of ultra-long-range business jets such as the Bombardier Global 7500 and Global 8000, Gulfstream G700 and G800, and the upcoming Dassault Falcon 10X, which exceed the dimensions many existing facilities were designed to accommodate.
Looking ahead, she expressed interest in integrating a professional-level custom sound system and DJ booth into a private aircraft, drawing on knowledge from the music and recording industries and re-engineering it within aviation constraints of weight, certification and space.
Industry impact & what to watch
This case illustrates how cabin completion has moved from bolting on individual systems toward treating connectivity, audio, lighting and materials as one coordinated design problem, with acoustics planned alongside cabinetry and architecture rather than added afterward. The cross-sector reuse of the same specification set, from Starlink to Aeristo leather, on a road vehicle interior shows how completion-grade components are becoming portable across mobility segments.
The segment's bottleneck, as described, sits not in design ambition but in physical throughput: completion, refurbishment and paint facilities built for an earlier generation of jets are being tested by the larger dimensions of aircraft like the Global 7500, Global 8000, G700, G800 and the Falcon 10X. As those types proliferate, whichever shops can physically accommodate them will capture a growing share of custom work regardless of design capability.
What remains open is whether facility expansion or retrofit keeps pace with the delivery schedules of these larger jets, and whether ambitions such as a certified in-cabin DJ booth move from stated interest to an actual commissioned project.
