Trying the new 11-Across Airbus A380 Seat with Geven

As I reported on Tuesday, Airbus are still trying to push this 11 across concept aboard the A380 in an effort to get 23 extra seats.

Well, today, I finally got around to looking at the seat.

The seat manufacture is Geven – who produced the seat in 2015 for Airbus. This seat has been optimised for A380 and again for 2017.

Sadly, in a move that could be considered odd – they’ve only brought the middle segment of the 3-5-3 across. No side walls, not 3’s to test.

We can file that under “Hmmmm”.

So, the seat itself – of course it slimline. An 18″ seat with is provisioned to the Airbus comfort standard. And they meet that comfort standard   – but there’s one place where they have shaved space – and that’s the arm rests.

Armrests in the middle of the formation

I wouldn’t like to guess how thing the armrests are – certainly they are thin.

For all intents and purposes, if you’re in the middle three of the five, good luck getting any armrest room.

Arm reset at the end of the row

I was never a fan of the 11 across concept when I saw it in 2015. And this optimised seat… hmm. I’m not seeing it to be honest.

Whilst airlines want to densify their A380 operations, there is plenty of scope to do so using the aft and front changes proposed.

11 Across may suit the tight charter market to move people – turning the A380 into a massive people mover. And whilst the seat width will be at 18″, you’ll need to chop off your arms to be super comfortable.

Perhaps the best reaction was one I got off a friend when I sent them a picture.

Hmm.

We’ll see if this seat has traction. Or not as the case may be.

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