Airbus has revealed that the corporation has developed a new solution, A380 Cabin-Flex as part of the efficiency-boosting A380 cabin enablers

A380 Cabin-Flex makes available the extra space for additional seats by allowing the upper-deck at door three to be deactivated.

This solution consists in a new cabin door area arrangement on the upper-deck, suitable for premium configuration with lower density seat counts, allowing airlines to gain revenue-earning floor-space for extra seating without compromising on passenger comfort.

Qantas has chosen to be the launch operator of the A380 Cabin-Flex which is available either for line-fit and retrofit on its current A380 fleet from mid-2019.

Compared with current A380 layouts, A380 Cabin-Flex can bring up to 11 more premium economy seats or seven business class seats. In terms of economics, this translates into a typical return-on-investment within around one year for the retrofit solution.