Airbus has been working on making the economics of the A380 even better for airlines who buy it: pack 11 seats into a row:
Airbus has found a way to make flying economy even worse. That’s quite a feat, given how crummy the experience is these days. The trick, it turns out, is eliminating one the few remaining saving graces of air travel: better than even odds you won’t be squeezed into a middle seat. Generally, you’ve got a two in three chance of landing an aisle or a window.
But now, airlines flying the Airbus A380, the largest commercial jet on the planet, can reduce those odds. The European plane maker announced this week that it will offer a 3-5-3 cabin configuration, creating rows with 11 seats.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the future of civilized air travel lies with airships.
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Saturday April 18 2015, @07:52PM
Asians are getting bigger too. You realize that Chinese, Koreans and Japanese are not inherently "smaller" than caucasians, right? It's a case of nutrition. As economies and diets improve in what were previously rather poor countries, heights, widths, weights and girths also increase over time to match what you'd find in any "western" country. Any airline that invests in tiny seats for what it thinks are tiny passengers is going to have a shock in 20 years when no one fits in their planes anymore.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @07:59PM
"Girths"? As in penis girth?