Forbes Magazine has reported Phillipine low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific has outfitted its A330-900neos with 460 seats by reconfiguring lavatories and galleys, the news source said.
Passengers on economy class flights on long-haul trips experience thinner seats, less legroom, and more middle seats as airlines attempt to generate revenue from available space on an aircraft. An extra lavatory doesn´t make an airline money, when there could instead be more seats, despite the potential detraction from passenger comfort.
Economy configurations on many aircraft 10 to 15 years ago would have been 2-4-2 on a Boeing 767 or A340 aircraft. Some airlines decided to start pushing for 3-3-3 seating, and 9-abreast on widebody jets, giving less pitch to the seat in front of passengers and less width.
Both Boeing and Airbus have pitched 10-abreast seating in a 3-4-3 layout to many airlines, particularly low-cost carriers, in the hopes of making routes profitable and allowing airlines to see the potential of cramming in more revenue-generating passengers.
Cathay Pacific has introduced 10-abreast seating on its 777 aircraft. Many large full-service carriers have followed suit with 10-abreast, including United, Qatar and Emirates.
The Airbus A330-900neo guidelines suggest 287 seats in a standard three-class layout, with a single-class layout of up to 440 seats. Airbus Industrie Airbus A330-900 aircraft, the longer edition of Airbus A330neo wide body jet.
The A380 super-jumbo, which is a full double-decker aircraft that offers nearly double the cabin space that the A330-900neo affords, has a highest operated density of 615 seats. Emirates flies this high-density version of the A380. Air Austral ordered two A380 aircraft in an all-economy layout that was set to have 840 seats with 11-abreast on the lower deck. The order was eventually canceled in 2016.
