Originally Posted by
Goldorak
They do not really have problems to see the seats. Everytime I take those, they are super full. But their config is too premium-heavy to have the flexibility to put them on different routes depending on the season. And now, as you rightly said, many well-informed business travelers are avoiding it when they can because of the seat. I am one of those. I truly like the plane but, if I can, I avoid it for several years now, because I don’t want to play the Russian roulette between NEV3/NEV4 seats. I can bear the NEV4, but not the NEV3 seat. To/from IAD for instance, if my schedule permits it, I take the B77W with the BEST seats rather than the A380.
So the yields are somewhat lower with the A380 because of that and also because there are more seats to sell in the cheaper fares.
It is never easy to tell if the airline "sells" a lot of premium seats based on the observation of a full J cabin. On my recent flight from CDG on CX (not AF) in F, I chatted with the station manager. He said that the flight was full, but that half of the J pax will be upgrades (opup or miles) and staff. Of course F was full too although there were only two seats taken at OLCI (CX blocks a F seat for all booked pax).