November 17, 2009 All cattle class, all the time
You know the overheads will get packed in the “all cattle class” Airbus:
The two airliners, all-economy versions of its giant A380 passenger plane, will start flying from Paris in 2014, the company said.
The cram-them-in configuration, known euphemistically as “high-density”, has been certified for use by civil aviation authorities after a fire test in which 873 people, 853 “passengers” and 20 crew, were safely evacuated in under 80 seconds. - telegraph.co.uk
The passenger-to-mileage ratio is said to make this the most environmentally-friendly airborne cattle hauler. Hopefully the onboard environment for the “self-loading freight” will be equally friendly. I have my doubts. An Australian newspaper calls it the “flying sardine can.”
BLOATED, BULBOUS WONDER
Reader Comments (2)
I took the 380 from LAX to SYD and back. Crowded boarding lounge but very efficient boarding. Overheads were spacious. Seats more comfortable that the 747. Mind you, I wish I had been in the front in one of the beds on that 17 hour flight but cattle class was it for me. Qantas staff surprised at my carry on (weighing exactly 15 pounds) and backpack as a "personal item."
Due to the narrower width of the upper deck of an Airbus 380, probably that will get configured as "premium economy," 19.5-inch wide seats, pitch maybe 34 inches, 2-3-2 seating, while the real moo-ving will be downstairs, 3-4-3, 18.1-inch wide seats, 31.0-inch pitch. Availability of bin space for a carry-on likely moot, given the rather restrictive Quantas limits for such. Source regarding seating adapted from Quantas information on www.seatguru.com, an essential source of information for any air traveler.