Airbus A380s with the entire upper deck configured with less than 100 business class seats are to be introduced by Korean Air.
The first of the airline’s ten A380s, which enters service in May 2011, will have 94 Prestige Class business seats on the upper deck.
Each of the giant aircraft will have a total of 407 seats, including 12 first class and 301 economy class seats on the main deck.
The 94 lie-flat sleepers will have 74 inches between seats and extra large partitions offering what the carrier claims is “normally the comfort and privacy reserved for first class passengers on other airlines”.
Senior vice president and head of the carrier’s passenger business division Walter Cho said business flyers will “feel exclusivity like they’re travelling in their own private jet”.
He added that Korean Air’s A380 is “one of the most spacious in the industry when you consider that our economy class seats are spaced almost three feet apart and our Prestige Class pitch is over six feet. That’s a comfort level that will provide us with a competitive edge”.
Korean Air has ordered ten A380s with the first five to be delivered by the end of 2011 and an additional five by 2014.
The airline will launch its A380s on short haul routes to