Emirates reveals A380 seat layouts

24 July, 2007:

Going a step ahead after constituting its new fleet of super jumbos, Emirates Airline has revealed for the first time the seat configurations that it will use on its new aircraft, the A380s. It has been reported that with each of the A380’s decks about the size of a 747 jumbo jet, there will be plenty of room to provide lounges, rest areas, and bars for its business-class passengers.

The double-decker super jumbos will offer comfort beyond first class, business class, and economy class. There will be geographical differences, with the more affluent passengers from western countries enjoying bedrooms, bars and ample space, while flights to Asia and India will resemble the proverbial cattle truck.

The airline is expected to seat 644 people on its flights from Dubai to Asia and the Indian sub-continent in a two-class configuration, it added. There also will be a small business class and then row after row of economy seats on both decks of the plane.

But, there will be far fewer passengers and plenty of room for premium-class passengers to move around in flights to London and New York. Emirates' flights to Heathrow will seat 514, which will give the airline slightly more capacity than on the New York flights.

The report went on to add that the airline’s Dubai to New York route will seat 489. This would mean that business-class flyers will take over an entire deck on the aircraft. It has been pointed out that if Emirates can have a business class that seats 100, the airline will make a lot of money. “On the routes to Asia and India, they seem to be going the other way, saying capacity is more important than providing passengers with lots of space,” said an industry expert.

With China and India eyeing air passenger growth of more than 8 per cent a year for the next two decades, Emirates is looking at tapping the potential gains of this growth. The airline has in fact placed orders for 100 aircraft worth $34 billion.