Airbus A380 airline-wise seating configurations compared

by Devesh Agarwal

Early next year Qatar Airways will become the eleventh operator of the Airbus A380 super-jumbo. We have researched and produce below an airline-wise A380 seat configuration infographic for comparison. Airbus had original projected the aircraft in a three class 555 seat configuration.

We have also reached some conclusions which are produced below the infographic. Study the infographic and see what conclusions you derive. Compare them with ours, and please post your thoughts and conclusions via a comment.

Airbus A380 seating configuration airline-wise deck-wise (U=Upper, L=Main/Lower), class-wise (CT = class total)

Qatar's CEO Mr. Akbar Al-Bakar has indicated a first class of eight seats and a business class of 52 seats, both on the upper deck. The economy class will have 457 seats, the most by any A380 operator till now.

The main deck (also called the lower deck) will be all economy class, but most likely, there will also be, a small section on the upper deck. The exact configuration has not been revealed as yet, but a study of the Emirates'A380 configuration of the same 517 seats leads us to expect about 30 economy class seats on the upper deck and 427 on the main deck.

With a total configured capacity of 517 seats, Qatar will have the densest A380, second only to Lufthansa which operates its A380s in a 526 seat configuration. However Emirates which also has a 517 seat configured A380 packs seven more economy class passengers on the main deck when compared to Lufthansa to take top spot in the "stuffed" ranking.

Korean Air operates the least dense A380 with 407 seats, just two less than launch operator Singapore Airlines.

Singapore Airlines offers the widest business class seat

The dual configurations of the Singapore Airlines A380 also allows us to derive that for each of its "over the top" ultra-wide 1-2-1 business class seats, the airline loses 3.385 economy class seats. The airline adds 26 business class seats on the upper deck and loses 88 economy class seats. A similar deduction can be derived for Australia based Qantas as well.

The world's largest operator of A380s, Dubai based Emirates airline, sacrifices a full 28 seats to provide crew sleeping accommodation in the rear of the aircraft on its A380s configured for long distance flights (Dubai Australia and Dubai North America). That area is apparently so quiet, that pilots who are accustomed to a hum, are unable to sleep due to the silence. (Read story here).

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Boeing delivers first Dreamliners to China and UK

US airframer Boeing made deliveries of the first Dreamliners to China and the United Kingdom when it delivered 787-8 aircraft to China Southern Airlines and UK's Thomson Airways on May 31.

China Southern has 10 Dreamliners on order. The airline will follow the patterns of other 787 operators and first operate the aircraft on shorter domestic flights before introducing the Dreamliner on its long-haul international passenger service. China Southern is the tenth customer worldwide to take delivery of the 787 Dreamliner.

Thomson, part of the TUI Travel group, is the UK's third largest airline operating 58 aircraft. It has eight Dreamliners on order which are configured in a two class layout, with 244 economy and 47 premium club seats.

On July 8, Thomson's first long-haul Dreamliner flights will operate from Manchester to Florida and from Glasgow to Cancun. Thomson will also operate services from London Gatwick and East Midlands airports. Later this year, the airline will introduce direct flights to Phuket, Thailand from the UK.

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Infographic: Airbus delivers 100th A380 superjumbo to Malaysia Airlines

Airbus matching milestones with Boeing, delivered its 100th A380 super-jumbo to national carrier Malaysia Airlines, the airline's sixth aircraft registration 9M-MNF.

Now in its sixth year of commercial service, the A380 is flying with nine world class airlines. To date, the worldwide fleet has carried some 36 million passengers in 100,000 flights.

The delivery to an Asian carrier is subtle in its signals. About 65% of current A380 capacity is to, from, or within the Asia-Pacific region, with more than 50,000 seats offered on nearly 500 flights every week. Europe has about 250 weekly services, and North America, 200.

Overall, A380s regularly operate at more than 30 airports globally on 65 scheduled routes with nine current airlines: Air France, China Southern, Emirates, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways International.

Airbus projects a demand of 1,700 VLA (Very Large Aircraft of 400 seats or more) over the next 20 years. Asia Pacific leads demand at 45%, the Middle East 23% and Europe 19%.

Airbus has also produced a neat little Infographic which is shared below.

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SpiceJet to launch services to Guangzhou

Indian low cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet will be launching flights 4 times per week between Delhi and Guangzhou, the hub of the Chinese Pearl River Delta. Services will begin on 8th February, 2013 with the following schedule:


SG 81 -- DEL - CAN -- 1720-0035+1 -- 2467 --  737-800
SG 82 -- CAN - DEL -- 0155-0525 -- 1357 -- 737-800

SpiceJet's competition on this route will be SkyTeam member China Southern, who operates a daily 757-200, and is the only other airline to ply the route between India. While the timings are far from optimal, they do offer good connections to Chennai in both directions, which is an important connection between India's manufacturing center and the hub of Chinese manufacturing.

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Night photos from Delhi Indira Gandhi international airport - the Boeing collection

Thanks to the support of the kind friends at Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. (DIAL) who operate the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), and the DGCA, some members of the Aviation Photographers India, went airside for some photography. Click here to see photographs from the entire group.

Below are some night photographs from the event taken by the Bangalore Aviation team of Devesh and Vedant. Photographing airliners at night is very challenging, very tiring, but at the end of it, most exhilarating. It is when the big boys from across the world come, the airport is relatively quiet so we can get up close to the planes, and the creativity we can exercise with the light. For example the star bursts are not generated using any filters. They are created by stopping down the aperture and increasing the time the shutter is open.

We hope you enjoy. Do take the time to leave a comment, either here, or on the photograph page itself. Considering we are hobbyists, praise always helps.

Today is the Boeing collection from the 757 to the new 747-8i. Click on the images to see the original photos in high resolution. We are excluding the 777s which will be posted in a separate collection tomorrow.

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i D-ABYA

China Southern Airlines Boeing 757-200 B-2823

China Southern Airlines Boeing 757-200 B-2812 (another night, another plane). Compare the star bursts between the two photos. This one is created used a prime 50mm f/1.8 Nikon lens, and at around Rs. 8,000 it is a steal, compared to the 24~70mm f/2.8, used for the shot above, which costs six figures.

Kenya Airways Boeing 767-300ER 5Y-KYX

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MAP: All the routes flown by all airlines operating the Airbus A380

As of date there are seven airlines operating the Airbus A380 superjumbo.

1. Singapore Airlines
2. QANTAS
3. Emirates airline
4. Lufthansa
5. Air France
6. Korean Air Lines
7. China Southern Airlines

This post summarises all the A380 routes operated by these seven operators. See more A380 articles.

The launch operator of the A380 was Singapore Airlines. The newest route is SQ25/SQ26 Singapore - Frankfurt - New York JFK which is the last operated by their Boeing 747-400 Megatop aircraft. In January, this era will come to a close when this flight will be upgraded to an A380.

Australian flag carrier uses A380s primarily on the 'kangaroo run' between Sydney and Melbourne and London, with Singapore as the hub. Its sole north American destination is Los Angeles LAX.

Dubai's Emirates is the largest operator of the A380, and also has the most diverse network covering almost the entire world.

German carrier Lufthansa has been re-jigging its A380 network. It has suspended New York JFK and San Francisco SFO in the current winter schedule citing poor load factors. It has though introduced Frankfurt-Singapore, which will also be operated by Singapore Airlines with an A380. Is there enough traffic to fill two superjumbos every day? Time will tell.

Air France too has been re-jigging its flights. With currently the Paris CDG to San Francisco SFO route being suspended.

Korean Air Line's A380 route network is limited since it is a new operator and has a very limited fleet, but I gave the map an unusual polar view.

China Southern is the newest operator, and also the only airline to use the A380 on domestic flights. However its sole A380 has had teeting problems and the routes are yet to properly launch.

Please keep in mind that airlines keep changing the routes and aircraft deployed.

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.

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Siuchan Airlines orders 20 COMAC C919

On October 21st, 2011 , Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC for short) announced an order from Siuchan Airlines for 20 of its narrowbody C919 aircraft. Earlier in the week, COMAC had won an order for 45 C919s from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.’s leasing arm.

The COMAC C919 is a large narrowbody aircraft designed to compete with the Boeing 737MAX and Airbus A320neo. The airplane is projected to make its first flight in 2014, and its first delivery is planned for 2016. While the design and production of the airliners are based in China, foreign companies play a significant role in its production as well. CFM International, a GE-Saras joint venture is producing the engines for the aircraft, and other foreign companies such as Honeywell play a role in constructing the aircraft's flight systems.


The order from Siuchan Airlines brings the total firm orders for the C919 to 105. China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, and Air China are the other airlnes who have ordered the type. Additionally, GE's leasing wing has an order for 10 C919s, with 55 more from Chinese leasing firms. Despite this modest success, the C919 will likely not be taken seriously until it garners an order from a major non-Chinese airline. Ryanair's Michael O'Leary indicated an interest in the C919 earlier this year, but aviation analysts have speculated that his statements were designed to put pressure on Boaing and Airbus for better pricing terms.

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Video: Live coverage of Airbus delivering China Southern's first A380

In just a few minutes from now, Airbus S.A.S. will deliver to China Southern Airlines, the carrier's first A30 super jumbo.

You can watch live streaming video of the delivery ceremony here. In the mean time, enjoy these videos of the aircraft being built.

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Opinion: QANTAS' Asian carrier should base at Guangzhou

Earlier this week, QANTAS, the beleaguered Australian national carrier, announced part of its major restructuring plan for the international division; doing so ahead of the initially planned August 24th date. There were numerous changes announced, but the carrier plans to hash out the details in the coming weeks so more news is still forthcoming.

QANTAS Airbus A380-800 VH-OQD lifts off from runway 27R at London Heathrow

These are some of the highlights of the announcement.

• Qantas will defer delivery of 6 of its remaining 10 Airbus A380s on order to the 2018-2021 time frame.
• Qantas is to acquire 110 Airbus A320 family aircraft, of which 78 are firm orders for Airbus' new A320neo, which promises 15% reduction in fuel burn over current generation aircraft.
• The carrier will improve premium cabins and check in for Trans-Tasman flights, as well as invest in new and bigger lounges in Singapore, LA, and Hong Kong.
• 9 Boeing 747-400s will be refitted with the A380 cabins and these aircraft will remain in Qantas' fleet till at least 2018
• 1,000 jobs will be cut from Qantas Group
• Jetstar Japan, a joint venture with Mitsubishi and Japan Airlines will be started, first on Japanese domestic flights before expanding to international routes.
• A new premium carrier in Asia will be launched (location and date still TBD) using 11 A320s at the start
• They are looking at Kuala Lampur as a good hand-off point for passengers traveling to Europe/the Middle East alongside their new OneWorld partner Malaysia Airlines
• Switch the flight to Buenos Aires to Santiago to feed into LAN's larger hub
• End Bangkok and Hong Kong to London sectors and simply transfer passengers onto British Airways at those two points - London flying to be focused at Singapore only.

While all of the changes mentioned above are news-worthy, the one that perhaps is the most important is Qantas' new carrier in Asia. The development of this new premium carrier is likely to dominate Qantas' international strategy for at least a few years; until the 787 has arrived in significant numbers. Indications have been that the premium carrier would be based at either Hong Kong or Singapore, though Kuala Lampur has also been mentioned as a potential hub.

Qantas' international wing has shriveled in the face of increased international competition and rising costs. Qantas has said that its mainline international business will post a loss of about $200 million AUD in FY 2010. Its market-share in the foreign sector has shrunk drastically - to just 18% last year. Asian market-share is just 14%, and competition has grown even to encompass their previously comfortable duopoly with United to Los Angeles.

Qantas' main strategic mistake has been that it failed to capitalize on the growing demand to and from China. While most of the airline serving Australia were surprised at the speed with which Chinese demand grew, Qantas has been by far the slowest to respond; even cutting flights to Beijing. China is now Australia's largest export market (especially to Western Australia with its rich natural resources), and in-bound tourism from China is the fastest growing segment of leisure passengers.

And therein lies part of the problem with Qantas' new premium carrier. Basing at Singapore or Kuala Lampur doesn't really solve the issue of flights to China; SE Asia is too far away to be a fully effective connecting hub. Furthermore, Singapore would see strong competition from a myriad of carriers, who have driven fares lower in recent years. Singapore Airlines with its golden service reputation and lower costs will likely draw more premium passengers while still being able to undercut "Qantas Asia" on economy class fares. Kuala Lampur presents its own problems; the market for premium travel at KLIA is relatively small, and with Qantas' new partner Malaysia Airlines facing financial troubles, Qantas may be reluctant to enter Malaysia.

And while Hong Kong would provide better access to China, it is also the home base of one of Qantas' OneWorld partners; Cathay Pacific. The Hong Kong airline market is also much more consolidated, with Cathay Pacific (and subsidiary Dragonair) combining with Hainan Airlines subsidiary Hong Kong Airlines to control more than 60% of the market. Thus Qantas would have to compete fiercely for origin and destination passengers (O&D).

So what's the solution for Qantas? For a carrier that has been criticized repeatedly for its placid strategy with regards to international flights, the time has come for them to take bold action. Thus, I propose that Qantas base its new Asian premium carrier at....

A Chinese airport, utilizing a joint venture with a China-based carrier to get over any regulatory hurdles. Of the choices, perhaps the best one is basing at Guangzhou in a joint venture with Air China.

Basing at Guangzhou makes sense for multiple reasons. Firstly, Guangzhou is one of the fastest growing markets to and from Australia. Its status as the hub of the Pearl River Delta, China's largest industrial production base and soon to be world's largest megalopolis, means that demand should continue to grow into the future. Moreover, with an expanding base of premium traffic to short-haul destinations, Qantas would be able to grow more quickly, and capture a larger share of the market than in the (relatively) more stagnant premium markets of KLIA, Singapore, or even Hong Kong. The shorter range of the A320 would also not be a problem, as Qantas could first "cut its teeth" in the highly profitable domestic sector before jumping into the international fray. Guangzhou's market is currently dominated by SkyTeam's China Southern Airlines, with no real viable second competitor.

QANTAS Airbus A330-300 VH-QPC departs Mumbai airport runway 27. Photo copyright Vedant Agarwal.

More importantly, Guangzhou is perfectly located to cater for a strong hub to Northern, Eastern, and even Southeastern Asia, as well as Europe and the Middle East. All major destinations in Australia and New Zealand are easily within the range of the A330-200 from Guangzhou.

If, after a few years, the venture is successful, Qantas could shift the A330s replaced by 787s at Jetstar to the new carrier; and allow it to open flights connecting all Australian points (as opposed to just Sydney) to Asia and beyond. Even the European market is (semi) ripe for the taking. China Southern operates to just Amsterdam and Paris in Europe, leaving such prime markets as London Heathrow and Frankfurt open to competition. With its growing demand base, coupled with smart connections to and from Australia, there's no reason why Guangzhou could not function as an effective scissors hub for the Kangaroo route.

Part of Qantas' problem in the past few years has been that it has effectively ignored the markets of Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth; while electing to build up Sydney in the British Airways London-Heathrow model. But with a scissors hub in Asia, especially at the strategically located Guangzhou, Qantas could re-attack those passengers with well designed connections, especially on European flights where an Australian passenger has to connect somewhere.

The choice of Air China as a partner is also important; as it solves many logistical issues. As China's "flag" carrier, Air China's involvement is likely to speed up regulatory processes and the like. Furthermore, Air China has strong ties to oneworld member, Hong Kong based, Cathay Pacific, so even as a member of Star Alliance, they could work with Qantas as well.

For Air China, the benefit of the deal is twofold. Firstly, they'd get a stronger presence in the Guangzhou market; the largest one in China without a major Air China presence. And with Qantas likely to be the driving partner behind the venture, Air China's risk and capital requirements would also be minimal.

While this plan may be shocking to more than a few readers (as well as probably Qantas itself), the time has passed for Qantas to maintain the status quo. Further cutting its operations (as the changes above indicate) will lead Qantas into obscurity; it's time for a change.

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