Air France to introduce larger overhead bins for its A320 fleet

At Economy Class and Beyond, we have some odd fascinations in the Passenger Experience part of the industry – one of them is the humble Overhead bin.

Air France is seemingly taking a jump to add more comfort in this – with the airline preparing to install new overhead bins.

The new bins by Safran Aerospace will be installed on the airlines Airbus A320 and A321 fleet. These serve both French Domestic operations and European Flights.

The ECOS “(Efficient Cabin Open Space”) Luggage compartment will offer 60% more storage capacity than the luggage racks currently available according to the airline. They will be the first to fly this overhead bin

Safran ECOS Overhead bin for Air France – Image, Air France/Safran Aeropsace

The design consists of new bins, ceiling and cove panels that provide a lower shelf height for ease of loading and visibility.

The new luggage compartments are also equipped with easy to reach doors which do not encroach into the cabin aisle. Like most new bins, luggage will need to be stowed on its side, rather than on its back to maximise the storage space.

In terms of bags that could be stored, there’s a big uplift:

• Airbus A320 goes fro 104 to 166 bags
• Airbus A321 goes from 113 to 192 bags

In quotes

Catherine Villar, SVP Customer Experience Air France aid

“Air France will be the first airline to offer these innovative luggage compartments. They will enable us to meet the high expectations of our customers wishing to travel with cabin bags only to save time during their trip. Boarding will be smoother and faster, both for them and for our crews. This represents a significant improvement in comfort and operational efficiency”, 

Norman Jordan, CEO of Safran Cabin, said

“Safran Cabin is proud to be providing Air France with the ECOS interior system and to be supporting Air France in its objectives to improve customer satisfaction.”

Coming soon…

Air France will equip 40 A320 aircraft and 11 A321 aircraft with the new bins between September 2020 and September 2022 for the retrofit of them into their fleet.

… However

The new overhead bin counts are interesting – and will need two things to happen to achieve the gains  – passengers actually sticking to the luggage size limits (which of course, everyone does), and ensure they store their luggage correctly, which will be a change for a lot of passengers who are used to storing their luggage by just pushing into the overhead bin in any way but which and walking away.

And of course, those who don’t use roller bags (your writer included who avoids them for hand luggage normally), will have to find space too.

But as a chance to increase overhead bin space is welcome, as airlines continue try to monitise luggage as much as possible.

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