A380 to lift centre lower floor to go 11 across in economy?

A report on Runway Girl Network has shown how Airbus plans to offer an 11 across economy seat plan in the widest part of the lower deck of the A380.

It intends to raise the floor in the widest part of the lower deck and do clever things with the armrest to ensure that the seat width is at 18  inches or 45.7 cms, which would still be wider (maybe) than the 17

inch or 43.1 cms wide seat found in those carriers that have installed a ten across Boeing 777 layout.

The Runway Girl story is detailed and comes with quotes, including two from Emirates, one saying it might do 11 across economy seating in its A380s, and one saying it might not.  Which is both reassuring and depressing.

The hints about the A380 cramming us in have been around for a while, and from senior Airbus executives and on the record.  The A380 in its current 575 tonne form is the most fuel and cost efficient airliner over long haul routes like Dubai-Los Angeles  according to Emirates, which has the world’s biggest fleet of both A380s and 777s and is thus uniquely well placed to pass judgement for its operational needs.

Add another 35-40 seats and it would remain more cost efficient in terms of per seat costs in a higher capacity layout than the forthcoming Airbus A350-1000 and the Boeing 777-X series.  Without a new tech engine! The trick being of course filling the A380s with enough customers to make such a claim a reality.  Which is a trick Emirates appears to perform at present.

However there is a need for caution about stories quoting seat widths. One airline’s A380 may not be as roomy as another’s even in the current ten across layout. The Runway Girl story quotes a seat width of 19 inches in main deck economy today in an Emirates A380, falling to 18 inches in the middle bits where the extra seats would go (don’t trip over the step on your way up!) However Seatguru quotes Emirates A380 Y seats now as being 18 inches across, while saying that Qantas, presumably with wider aisles, has then at 17.5 inches in its A380s, and Singapore Airlines is quoted at 19 inches in its main deck A380s.

Same jet, same cabin dimensions, different seat values. Go figure.

If as seems likely Emirates goes for the 11 across cabin on future deliveries of A380s the normal sized passenger might choose to be careful about sitting in the first of its four economy cabins on the main deck, or the last, since they both taper.

And Emirates might return the favour by charging us slightly more to sit in parts one and four of the economy cabin and put the cheapest seats in parts two and three. This is just speculation. Emirates and other A380 users mightn’t do this at all.

The central five across seating bloc which would be required in the 11 across format in an A380 with triples on either side, was not exactly well loved when it was used more widely in nine across DC-10s in the 80s and 90s.

Sitting in the middle seat you often missed the meal service, or the attention of a passing cabin attendant. Seated beside the person in that middle seat in the bloc of five, you could get their meal or drink service too, all over your clothes, head or arms.  The person buried in the middle seat of five is also the person who will need to use the toilet most. It’s just really awful, for the middle person and those beside them.