Airbus Expands Economy Seating Suite
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Airbus began day one at the Aircraft Interiors Expo with an in-depth press briefing to announce their new expanded seat offering, as well as a partnership with Recaro to produce a supplier-furnished-equipment (SFE) Economy Class seat option for A320 family operators and a visual demonstration of their pivoting overhead storage compartments.
Ingo Wuggetzer, vice-president of Cabin Marketing for Airbus, introduced the press group to some of the latest industry trends, which strongly supported the need for a re-assessment of offerings to passengers. With 3.3 billion travelers in the air throughout 2014 alone, 90 percent of which fall into the economy-class category, it was clear that yield optimization models which focused on business class were missing out on a large portion of the emerging middle-class market.
Wuggetzer profiled the emergence of premium economy seating, which began to bridge the gap between business and economy classes since its introduction in 2008 and continues to gain in popularity with 26 airlines currently offering this class option. The concept of further diversifying the cabin to offer passengers more choice has clearly caught on, as Airbus today announced a third product within their economy product suite: Budget Economy.
Wherein the previous yield optimization model addressed only first, business and economy, Airbus now offers five differentiated options with the addition of Premium Economy and Budget Economy products, enabling higher revenue yields within those sectors.
Airbus’ global passenger survey also revealed some interesting facts about how people perceive space, which led to their emphasis on maintaining an adequate width between armrests rather than focusing on seat pitch alone. This market research showed that just one inch of increased space between shoulders also led to a marked increase in the perception of pitch, even when pitch had not changed.
This new Economy suite will be available across the A330, A350 XWB and A80 Airbus segments, which means Budget configurations can total nine, 10 and 11 abreast, respectively.
The press group was invited to experience the difference between 17″ and 18″ width (both had a 30″ pitch) and all noted that the ability to swivel hips and move around in the spacier 18″ seat did have an impact on the perception of comfort, especially given that our shoulders were not touching.
We also viewed an 11-abreast A380 configuration model, previewed the new Economy Class SFE 3530Swift seat, developed with Recaro for the A320 family, and viewed the pivoting overhead bins in action (these bins offer 60 percent more luggage capacity).
All photos by Maxim Sergienko