The new configuration for the A380 is 3-5-3–that is, three seats, an aisle, five seats, another aisle, and three more seats. In order to squash that extra seat in, according to a report at Runway Girl Network, Airbus had to order some serious changes from its seatmakers:
[T]he 3-5-3 A380 is obviously a downgrade from the passenger experience point of view. Leaving the centre seat of five aside, Airbus has achieved its record density by cutting seat width by between 1 and 0.5 inches, slashing armrest widths by just over 2cm (nearly an inch), angling window armrests outwards, trimming aisles and — in perhaps the worst case of foot space restriction for window passengers since Bombardier’s Q400 turboprop — jamming window seats up against the wall so far that they overhang six inches above the start of the curved sidewall.
That window seat sounds really pleasant doesn’t it? Passengers sitting in the window seats cannot put their feet flat on the floor in front of them, which RGN points out, is no big deal on short 60- or 90-minute hops on a regional jet but promise to be very unpleasant on a several hour flight on an A380.
Airbus and two seatmakers, Geven and Zodiac, are promoting a three-tiered economy class for the A380: basic economy (3-5-3 seating); comfort economy (3-4-3 seating, with 18-inch wide seats); and premium economy with seats that are 19-inches wide.
Only five A380 operators currently offer premium economy seating which cost about double the basic economy fare compared with a business class seat that can cost 4-times the basic economy rate.
Stuffing more seats into a plane’s cabin is not something that Airbus competitor The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) shies away from either. Boeing has added 11 seats to its new 737 MAX 8 to create a 200-seater called the 737 MAX 200 for low-cost European carrier Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY).
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