The A380 main deck economy seat row recently unveiled by Airbus (Hall Concorde 17) is one of four new cabin interior options it is offering, all aimed at reducing unit costs or enhancing revenue. Chris Emerson, Airbus senior v-p marketing, said the 11-abreast ‘Max Abreast’ row is for A380 customers wanting to reduce economy-seating unit costs to levels like those of competing low-cost carriers while offering better comfort. He said the 11-abreast main deck economy row would use a “unique advantage” of the A380–its main-deck sidewalls curve outwards from floor level at and above every seat–to position window seats outward to a half-inch distance from the walls.

This positioning would retain existing personal space levels at all heights and “in some cases” would even offer increased head and shoulder space, Emerson said. “We just got rid of wasted space,” he added. Together with reducing average armrest width from 2 to 1.5 inches, the outward positioning would create a 3-5-3 configuration in which all economy seats remain 18 inches wide, wider than those of any LCC operating non-Airbus aircraft, according to Emerson. He said the center seats in the between-aisle, five-abreast rows would only be filled if the A380 was at least 90-percent booked, and would often be booked by families traveling together.

Airbus sees its new A380 configurations as best suited to short-haul markets, regional Asian sectors and longer-haul leisure markets in which LCCs or charter carriers also compete. “We have customers who are asking for this, in certain marketplaces with predominantly low-yield traffic,” said Emerson. “We have demonstrated that with the A380 we can do this and still have an 18-inch level of comfort.”

One A380 revenue-enhancement option is a nine-abreast main-deck premium economy cabin with 19-inch-wide seats and 2-to-3-inch-wide armrests. Another is a new upper-deck business-class configuration with under-window sidewall storage bins removed and half-contour window seats (with 3-inch armrests) installed with a foot bench and angled more perpendicularly to the windows. This would allow the seats to be reclined into fully flat beds but would reduce seat pitch, allowing another seat row to be added.

A third revenue-enhancement option is an integrated flight-crew and cabin-crew rest area under the main deck, with a partition separating pilots from flight attendants. This would create extra passenger-cabin space for revenue seats.

A senior cabin interiors expert for an A380 operator said Airbus’ new optional configurations wouldn’t suit all carriers flying A380s. Airbus is offering the 11-abreast economy row with a new sidewall shell designed to add two inches to the cabin width, said the expert. This would be “very, very costly” to retrofit: the expert suggested that it is “really only available for line-fit customers” for new A380s.

Accessing overhead stowage from the center of the five-abreast center row would be difficult and probably would require passengers stepping on a seat to reach the bin, the expert thought. The cabin-interiors executive also noted armrests serve not only as places for passengers to rest their arms but also as their primary means of preserving personal space, by physically separating the shoulders of passengers in adjacent seats.

Seat and armrest width is “no problem on two-hour flights. But at for 3- to 3 1/2 hours, people start feeling the pain of narrow [seats and armrests],” the expert said. “If they’re too narrow, at some point–eight, 10, 12 hours–it’s not acceptable anymore.”

Today most A380 operators offer eight-abreast premium economy seating and this offers “very good comfort to passengers,” said the expert. “If you’re offering a no-frills tariff, who would want [reduced space] in Business or Premium Economy when you’re paying the extra for comfort?”

Additionally, business-class passengers in window seats might not be able to see out their windows easily when their seats are steeply angled towards the aisle.