The-Longhauler

I was amazed this morning to have a "B" seat in the business class. It turned out to be the new Airbus 321 with 3 - 3 configuration in business.

Boarding was very slow with 6 people on each row and no section boarding...
Fortunately the A seat was not taken as, so I changed. I was sitting very cramped in this seat, I could not sit totally upright. With a person in B, it would certainly not be business feeling.

Very bad SAS ... but of course you will earn a lot of money since 189 passengers can be stuffed into this "charter-like" configuration. I think BA is blocking the middle seat..

...by the way, great improved breakfast, with fresh yoghurt in a glass bowl and french honey ... Second round of bread was served 30 seconds after the first, so I only catched one..... I guess same amount of cabin attendents as on M80-90, so that means 50 people more to serve on same time...

TRESY

I forget which airlines "guarantee" that no one will fill the middle seat in Biz 3-3 config. I think Air France and old Sabena. SAS is particularly bad at cramming in people

Hagbard Viking

The seating plan for their A321 shown in their printed timetable indicates 2-3 seating in business class. Wonder if that has changed or if you were just unlucky to encounter an anomaly?

quilly

just flew LOT WAW-LHR in C-class last week and the service and food were surprisingly good.

LOT automatically block the middle seat on their 737's in biz class

Austman

I would have thought that SAS would have the adjustable 3-3 to 2-3 seating on the A321s for business class just like the 737s.

While the width on the 737s in business class is OK (much like BA and others) the pitch is not so great. Again I would expect SAS A320 variants would be similar.

Was this a short flight? A domestic configuration perhaps?

The-Longhauler

Not domestic, Intra scandinavian ...
There is no online seatplan available anywhere ???

The-Longhauler

Let's hope that !!! Otherwise we can enjoy the original "charter-feeling" in businessclass for many years ahead..

Fly me to the Stars

I was on the 321 a couple of weeks ago from ARN to CPH in row 3 or 4 and it had the same 3-3 configuration. It really was not very comfortable, in fact it was more cramped than the domestic 737's.

Austman

This is NOT sounding good. There are seat maps of the A321 in the latest travelbook.

The-Longhauler

Well, then it seems like it will be the standard, poor us customers..

Johan

I have not experienced the Airbus 321 in SAS configuration yet. But if the seating is as bad as you write here, I think some kind of reaction is called for, however it will obviously be difficult to move business elsewhere considering SAS' monopoly on intra-Scandinavian routes. I suggest writing to SAS customer relation asking for a refund between the business class fare paid for and the lowest economy fare for the charter class product offered.

Already today, the domestic fleet is a pain and if SAS is expanding this concept to intra-Scandinavian routes this is definitely not an improvement. Already today, the last few back rows of the planes in the European fleet is a pain. Doesn't SAS recognise that Scandinavians are taller than the world population average?

SAS subsidiary Air Botnia advertise that they operate their Avro RJ's with fewer seat rows than the standard configuration. Obviously, this policy does not comprise its parent company, but then again Air Botnia is trying to steal away business from Finnair and does not enjoy a monopoly on its routes.

JetE

Yup... the last 2 or 3 rows are to be avoided if possible. Otherwise, the regular Economy row in Euro-configured (Domestic-configured ones are a lot tighter) aircraft offers mucho legroom compared to, say, KLM (and the Dutch are certainly not short).

JetE

The-Longhauler

SAS's official info about 321

New SAS Airbus 321s join fleet:
Spacious cabins, more comfortable seats
The A321 is a big, comfortable aircraft with a spacious cabin that features bigger bins for hand-baggage, as well as wardrobes for outer clothing.....

Austman

Yes, I've read that too.

But in European configuration I think business class on the A321 gets a 2-3 configuration rather than 3-3.

SAS consider intra-Scandinavian to be domestic as far as seat configuration is concerned. The 737s operate with a 3-3 configuration on those routes too.

And the seat pitch on the 737s seems to be not as good as on the MDs. Maybe it's the seats themselves...

The-Longhauler

Are you sure about this ?? I have often enjoyed the nice 2-3 configuration on CPH-STO on 737-800 , when you sit in A and C it is perfect. I never heard they considered intrascandinavian as domestic, is it so ? Can they even use the 162 seats domestic version of MD80 to intrascandinavian then ?