It seems ultra-dense A350s continues to be the order of the day, with French Bee taking delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000.
As for how many seats?
480 in total.
The seating is split by 40 premium class seats (premium economy) and 440 economy class seats in a dense 10-Across configuration. The aircraft are fitted with Airbus’ Airspace cabin, including state-of-the-art, in-flight passenger entertainment and full Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the cabin.
This is the first of two aircraft Airbus A350-1000 that French Bee is taking delivery of. The airline plans to operate on the route from Paris to Saint-Denis de La Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. For French Bee, it offers flexibility, as the A350-1000 is capable of allowing the airline to fly long-haul destinations up to 16,000 km (8,700nm).
These Airbus A350-1000 aircraft will join the four A350-900 already in the French bee fleet.
They are being leased from Air Lease Corporation, continuing its run as an all-A350 operator.
Simultaneously, the Dubreuil group (owners of French Bee)also takes delivery of another A350-1000 on lease from Air Lease Corporation intended for Air Caraïbes, bringing the number of Airbus aircraft in the group’s fleet to 15.
Dense layouts
Let’s not beat about the bush – this is a very densely laid out Airbus A350-1000 – but its aim is to get passengers from A to B at a lower cost base (and in theory, lower fares).
French Bee’s high capacity A350s seem to have survived so far (with 35 premium seats and 376 – 411 in total). The new A350-1000 will add an extra 5 premium seats and 64 economy seats to the already dense A350-900.
That’s still a lot of seats to fill – no matter how tight the configuration.
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