Airbus today announced that the company is studying potential improvements to the A380, including aerodynamic improvements and additional seats without changing passenger comfort that provide a 13% cost improvement per seat over the existing model. Â The new model is the A380plus.
At the show, Airbus has on display an A380 with new winglets, that measure 3.5 meters up and 1.2 meters down in a split configuration.
In addition to aerodynamic improvements and 80 additional seats, the aircraft features system improvements and longer maintenance intervals, including reduced downtime for the six-year check, that contribute to the overall 13% improvement.
By modifying staircases, Airbus has been able to add additional seats without impacting passenger comfort levels.
With these improvements, the aircraft remains competitive with smaller new technology aircraft on a seat-mile cost basis and remains the ideal aircraft for capacity limited airports.
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