China Southern has confirmed it will offer a three-class layout on its forthcoming A380 superjumbo, offering a total of 506 seats.
A seatplan of the carrier's A380 layout was leaked on the Chinese social media website Sina Weibo earlier this year, and China Southern has now confirmed it will position its eight first class seats at the front of the lower deck, followed by 352 economy seats in a 3-4-3 configuration.
Upstairs there will be a further 76 economy seats (2-4-2) at the rear of the aircraft, followed by 70 lie-flat business class seats, making a total 146 seats on the upper deck.
It means the carrier will offer a total of 428 economy seats, one more than Emirates' more densely configured A380 aircraft (without a crew rest area), and seven less than that offered by Thai Airways, which recently announced the layout of its forthcoming superjumbo (see online news July 26). Air France's three-class A380 offers the largest number of economy seats at 449.
China Southern is set to take delivery of its first A380 in September, and will initailly operate the aircraft on domestic routes from Beijing to Shanghai and Guangzhou.
For a comparison of the six airlines currently operating the A380, click here.
