London - When it comes to booking a flight, we’re used to choosing between economy, business and, if you’re lucky, first class.
But in future the Airbus A380 will be offering a cheaper set of seats that will be called “choice economy” – although critics have dubbed the new set-up “economy minus”. The new budget option will be available from 2017, when Airbus will start squeezing more passengers on to each plane.
It is planning to increase the number of seats from 525 to 544 on every aircraft. This will be achieved by putting an extra seat on some of the rows, where 11 seats will be incorporated into the same space as the present 10 – with a cheaper fourth class for those who choose the new middle seat.
The new centre seat will change the configuration from 3-4-3 to 3-5-3. The extra middle seats are expected to make each aircraft an extra £13.5 million (about R250m) a year. The inclusion of an extra seat will not alter the 45.7cm width of economy seats. Airbus says rearranging the cabin and slimming armrests has enabled it squeeze in the extra seat.
Announcing the launch this week, Airbus spokesperson Christopher Emerson said: “Around 90 percent of travellers are economy. We want to give a choice to that 90 percent.”
Daily Mail