By Robert Wall
HAMBURG--Airbus Group NV is starting to market a basic economy
widebody configuration that maximizes the number of seats per row
in a tacit acknowledgement that a push for airlines to use a
minimum-sized airplane seat on long-haul jets has failed to sway
its customers.
After more than a year of arguing 18-inch-wide seats should be
the minimum airlines should use, Airbus has begun more actively
discussing the merits of a "basic economy" setup which squeezes in
as many passengers per row as possible. That arrangement would mean
9-seats-abreast on the A330 widebody and ten-per-row on the new
A350 long-range jet with seats smaller than those Airbus had
advocated as the standard.
Airlines typically use per-seat costs as a factor in judging a
planes economics and in fleet purchase decisions. Airbus said its
push for a minimum-sized seat touted as enhancing passenger comfort
would have undercut some of rival Boeing Co.'s marketing efforts on
some jet models. Airline officials, though, bristled at their
primacy in defining the inside of the plane being usurped by
Airbus.
"We see a clear focus on price" among some passengers, said Ingo
Wuggetzer, vice president for cabin marketing at Airbus. Those
seats appeal to students or low-cost traffic in emerging markets,
he said. "Their choice is not driven by comfort," he said.
The vast majority of Airbus A330 customers currently fly a
standard economy class that offers extra space, though in the
coming years the a higher-density version will represent around 27%
of such jets being delivered, Mr. Wuggetzer said.
Airbus also is offering more seats-per-row on its A380
double-decker. It would allow airlines to seat
11-passengers-abreast on the super-jumbo's main deck. The width of
the plane allows Airbus to offer the configuration even with
18-inch-wide seats.
The Toulouse-based plane maker still is waiting for its first
customer for the configuration available from 2017.
Though airlines are interested in maximizing seating in some
parts of their economy class, in others they are looking to move
upmarket. More airlines are introducing premium economy seating
which allows carriers to charge higher fares for more amenities
that stop short of the more lavish though pricier business class
tickets many passengers won't purchase.
"We think that trend to premium economy is growing," said Kent
Craver, a cabin experience director at Boeing. More than half of
the plane maker's 777 long-rang jets last year were delivered to
customers with such seats.
Airbus is noticing the same. The number of airlines with the
higher yielding economy seats has grown steadily in the past eight
years, Mr. Wuggetzer said.
Airlines for some time resisted introducing premium economy
seats, worried passengers may trade down and buy those tickets
rather than business class. That changed with the persistent move
to increase the quality of business class seats.
"The gap to premium economy is big enough to avoid any spill,"
Mr. Wuggetzer said.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
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