Are you ready to sit in an aircraft with eleven seats across?

Premium Economy is for airlines wishing to focus on business travellers, with more personal space on board. There are nine seats across in the cabin, usually in a 3-3-3 configuration. The seats are 19 inches in width. Economy Comfort is the default configuration that most airlines have chosen as a compromise between comfort and economy. This means ten seats across in a 3-4-3 configuration. There is supposed to be enough space in Economy Comfort so passengers shoulders do not touch. Finally, the new Budget Economy is for value-conscious travellers. The configuration will be eleven seats across in a 3-5-3 configuration. The chairs are 18 inches wide, which is actually about average, so space has been made available in other ways.

Eleven seats across in economy class on the Airbus A380 We were able to test this cabin layout with Airbus in Hamburg. Although the seats are by definition neither smaller or narrower than economy seats in general (including the Airbus Comfort Economy option) the armrests are significantly smaller and it can get quite congested once the row fills up. Sitting in a window seat has both its advantages and disadvantages. This is because the cabin wall is not completely straight, it is curved. It means a little more room for the arms than in the other seats, but less legroom as the cabin wall "steals" some of this space.

A window seat has its advantages and disadvantages So far no airlines have jumped at the idea, but the configuration could be an option on, for example, high-frequency short-haul routes in Asia, and of course for charter companies. Would you want to sit in a row of eleven people for a cheap fare? And could you travel in the middle seat of the middle section with two people on either side? Or is it worth paying a little more for increased comfort? Let us know!

Airbus A380 with eleven seats across (3-5-3)