TAP Portugal has been busy in the background, with supplier Recaro shipping over 6,600 seats to the airline as part of the refit project.
The refit programme will cover 41 short to medium haul aircraft in the Airbus A320 family – including A319s, A320s and A321s.
There are two kinds of seats that are being installed on TAP Portugal short-haul aircraft – the SL3510 and BL3510.
First up is the BL3510.
BL3510 seat to be used for TAP Portugal – Image, © Recaro Aircraft Seating
This seat is a more traditional seat, with recline and an adjustable headrest. It’s a lightweight seat and reasonably comfortable to sit in. It will be used in Business Class and Economy class to the front of the plane for those who have purchased higher value economy fares.
Next, let’s look at the SL3510.
SL3510 seat – Image, © Recaro Aircraft Seating
I’ve talked about the SL3510 seat before as it is going into service with Cebu Pacific, and is flying with EasyJet, and I’ll be honest – for an economy seat – it’s actually rather comfortable. In terms of the seat, there are two moving parts (the arm rest and tray table). By using netting and lightweight construction, these weigh in around 9kg a seat – which is light by anyone’s standards.
Lighter seats mean of course, lower fuel costs, with a weight saving of around 700kg per plane.
The slimline seats allow more seats to be installed – allowing TAP Portugal to increase the seat counts. The A319 and A320 series aircraft will have an extra 12 seats installed, whilst the A321s will be fitted with 17 seats.
Proving TAP hasn’t cut back too hard on the legroom, the SL3510 and BL3510 are good seats for the short-haul customer – whilst being bearable on medium haul legs.
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