Last week at Aircraft Interiors Expo, a representative of Recaro revealed that they had landed an order from a big legacy airline for their SL3510. Sadly, they did not disclose it to me directly.
Recaro SL3510 seats at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2016 – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
In a press release, Recaro confirm that the next customers for the slimline SL3510 seat are British Airways and Iberia
These will be delivered to British Airways and Iberia for their Airbus A321neo and Airbus A320neo, replacing B/E Aerospace as the provider of short to mid-haul seats. In addition, Iberia’s A320ceo fleet will have its existing seats will be replaced with the SL3510
The seats and the aircraft are due for delivery in early 2018, with 9000 seats on the order book.
Alex Cruz, Chairman and CEO of British Airways states:
“We particularly need world-class aircraft seats that are utterly reliable and robust, yet also light and easy to maintain, for our extremely busy short-haul flights within Europe. The SL3510 model from Recaro fulfills all of our expectations and offers our demanding customers an outstanding level of comfort”
Luis Gallego, Chairman and CEO of Iberia is equally happy, stating
“We are especially proud of the balance between comfort and economy achieved by the new Recaro SL3510 seats. The design makes the seats incredibly comfortable, while freeing up extra legroom for all our passengers. They are also lighter in weight, which translates into greater fuel economy and cleaner skies”
Meanwhile Dr Mark Hiller of CEO of Recaro states
“With its innovative and both environmentally and economically attractive characteristics, the award-winning SL3510 sets global standards and is one of the best seats in its class. Which makes me all the more pleased that IAG, which sets the benchmark in the market, has opted for our solution,”
Installing these light-weight seats makes ideal use of the space in the aircraft cabin. As a result, both airlines offer their passengers attractive benefits in the highly competitive short-haul market and can simultaneously operate in an extremely efficient manner.”
Let’s take a closer look at the SL3510. Firstly, there’s two moving parts on the whole seat – the arm-rest and the tray table. This makes it rather cheap to maintain. Combined with a low weight of 9kg per seat makes – it becomes cheap to fly over the life of an aircraft and seat.
Oh yes, it’s a slimline seat. But you guessed that already.
The SL3510 with the options you can have installed on the seat back – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
The seat itself does not recline – rather it is pre-reclined for you. On the plus side – that means no one reclining into your face on a short haul segment. Additionally, knee space is preserved as the seat is fixed.
For airlines – this is great, as it means a higher passenger density whilst trying not to sacrifice too much legroom. At 29″ seat pitch, these seats are not bad at all – I would say you could do a couple of hours in them – however, any more than that could be less than optimal.
The SL3510 has been deployed far and wide, with Cebu Pacific being the launch customer, EasyJet launching them in the UK and TAP Portugal taking them on last year for installation into their fleet. Air France operates the seats on domestic routes.
Disappointingly, the release makes no mention of power at seat in either USB form or 110v.
Am I surprised that IAG group has chosen the Recaro SL3510? Not at all. They’re lightweight and can pack passengers in aboard a plane. With these new planes having to pay their way, every penny they save on weight when they fly will make a difference.
It is interesting to see that legacy carriers are heading to this seat now for longer missions and new aircraft. I suppose the cost savings are there to be taken.
Of course, how many seats are put in a British Airways/Iberia Airbus A320neo/A321neo is a guess at the moment – but I suspect we’ll find out soon enough.
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