Pursuits
Airbus Could Shrink A380’s Grand Stairway to Add Space for Seats
- Interiors revamp aims to create room for 60 more passengers
- Move comes after early buyers added showers, duty-free outlets
Lights illuminate the staircase between floors on Qatar Airways Ltd.'s first Airbus A380.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Airbus Group SE is exploring ways of carving out extra space on its A380 superjumbos in order to boost capacity and enhance margins for operators, among them modifying the staircases that connect the double-decker jet’s two passenger floors.
Feedback from existing A380 customers suggests that curved steps located toward the rear of the world’s biggest jetliner are rarely used since passengers have little need to move between levels, opening up the possibility of making them less of a design feature to create more room. The planes also feature double-width stairs at the front reminiscent of those from on ocean liner.