SWISS A350 premium economy seats use hard shell, cutting legroom
SWISS is introducing a premium economy seat on its Airbus A350-900 that encloses each passenger in a fixed hard shell, protecting personal space at the cost of legroom. The design is one rivals have chosen not to adopt.
SWISS International Air Lines is putting a fixed hard shell around each seat in its new premium economy cabin, so a reclining neighbour cannot intrude on a passenger's space.
The seat belongs to the carrier's SWISS Senses cabin, being rolled out on the Airbus A350-900. The shell delivers that isolation, but the mechanism behind it takes a significant amount of legroom, the source states. Taller passengers bear the cost.
Other global carriers have looked at the same approach and declined to copy it, according to the source, which calls the arrangement an ergonomic compromise those airlines have deliberately avoided.
The account covers only the seat's design and its effect on passenger space. It gives no cabin layout, no start date for the rollout, and no details of the seat's other features beyond the enclosure.
Sources
- simpleflying.comSWISS' New Airbus A350 Premium Economy Traded Legroom For A Privacy Shell Rivals Refuse To Copy