Airbus widens A350 cabin in mile-high real estate war

Airbus has unveiled a wider and longer cabin for its A350 in a battle for wide-body sales against Boeing - while quietly ditching the slogan on which it waged a fierce dispute over elbow space with its arch-rival a decade ago. The two planemakers routinely go head to head over fuel efficiency. The latest salvo concerns some of the world's prime real estate - the cabin of a big jet where comfort meets cost. Airbus said in a blog it was introducing a New Production Standard (NPS) to make A350s lighter and more flexible. Changes include scraping four inches off interior walls and making the cabin longer by moving a bulkhead and squeezing the cockpit. "It increases comfort in all classes," said Anais Marzo, head of cabin interiors marketing. Boeing declined comment, but people familiar with its pitch to airlines said it insists its comparable jet is more spacious. Critically for resurgent wide-body jet market competition, the Airbus upgrade allows up to 34 more seats to reach more than 400 on an A350-1000, compared with the 406-seat Boeing 777X. Extra seats affect airlines in two ways: they open up more revenue if airlines can fill them, and they reduce cost per seat - a metric that can lead to lower fares and determine which jets airlines buy. "It is roughly 11% more efficient in economy-class pricing," said cabin expert and independent aviation journalist John Walton, who first reported the changes. Currently most A350 economy cabins have nine 18-inch wide seats per row. The A350 NPS will boost that to 18.7 inches.<br/>