Originally Posted by
IsleOfMan
I think Emirates And Singapore are who you might see ratchet up the perks on the A380. The private suites are a start and El Al is talking about showers as well. That said, I don't expect to see an A380 without a very large coach section any time soon. The all-business-class airlines are struggling as is trying to fill B757s and B767s and still make a profit. If fuel were at $50/bbl and an airline could hedge for 5-10+ years then you might see some of the crazy-luxury the A380 originally promised... but at $119 and climbing they are more likely to become flying greyhounds with 20% J and 10% F (by area, not number of seats).
Can the coach passengers afford the ticket prices, though?
Singapore discovered that 64 business class seats were not enough to meet the demand, so they started all-business service with 100 seats and think they fill an A340-500.
And A380 has mere 60 business seats. By my guestimate, Singapore could rip out the 88 economy seats at the very rear of upper deck and replace them with about 24 business seats. They would still have just 84 business seats, 96 suites and business combined... fewer than on A340-500. Will they do so?