The move by airlines to adopt 10 -breast seating on Boeing 777s is gaining momentum with British Airways the latest to announce higher density aircraft that will pack in an additional 52 seats.
BA is planning to introduce 10-across seating in 2018, a move that will provide passengers with narrower seats and potentially place further strain on toilet facilities.
The airline will increase its economy seating on its London-Gatwick-based from 216 to 252 seats on 25 777s as it trims back the business seating by eight to 32 and doubles premium economy to 48.
But it will introduce new entertainment systems with bigger screens to help distract passengers from their tight accommodations.
The chief executive of BA parent company IAG, Willie Walsh, told investors the move would allow BA to lower the average cost per seat, “charge a lower price and stimulate demand”.
A BA spokesman told The Telegraph newspaper that the airline was flying more customers to an expanding network of destinations.
"To meet this demand, we are updating our 777 cabins to bring us into line with many of our competitors and allow us to offer even more low fares,'' he said.
BA is not alone in it move to introduce the more cramped configuration. Cathay Pacific announced earlier this year that it would make a similar move and airlines that already have it include Air Canada, Emirates, Etihad, Air New Zealand, KLM and American Airlines. At this stage, it still operates nine-across seating along with carriers such as Singapore Airlines, Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines.
The denser seating is the flip side to the cheap fares consumers are enjoying in many markets.
Carriers move to reduce the cost of flying each economy seat by either reducing the seat pitch, essentially the distance between seats, or by adding an extra seat to each row. BA is planning to do this on its Heathrow-based Airbus narrow-body aircraft over the coming months by increasing A320 seating from 168 to 180 and A321 seating from 205 to 218.
Seat designers have attempted to offset the reduction in seat pitch by designing slimline seats that are scalloped to maximise leg room and which have seat pans that move forward when the seat is reclined.
They are also reducing the width of seats to accommodate the move from the nine-across seating airlines originally adopted for the B777 to the 10-across configuration. A similar situation has occurred with nine -across seating on the Boeing 787, which was designed with an eight-abreast configuration in mind. BA was forced to widen seats on its 787-9s by half an inch after narrower seats on its 787-8s drew complants .
On a separate issue, Mr Walsh told the World Travel Market in London that alliances such as oneworld and Star added value today but he was doubtful would exist in 10 years.
“I think relationships have changed and you are seeing more deals such as joint ventures. If you go back to my time at Aer Lingus, I didn’t actually take them out of oneworld but I prepared the groundwork for it,’’ website buyingbusinesstravel reported.
“What you’ve got to recognise is there’s a cost of being a member and for a small airline that cost can be greater than the revenue and commercial benefit you gain from being in an alliance.”
