Ural Airlines’ new seats to help cut aircraft weight

So far the seats have been changed on just one of Ural Airlines’ A320s So far the seats have been changed on just one of Ural Airlines’ A320s (Photo by Ural Airlines)

Russian Ural Airlines launched a passenger seat replacement on its fleet. The aircraft will receive new seats during their shop visits for heavy maintenance (C- and D-checks) at the airline’s in-house maintenance center. The new seats are much lighter than the old ones, which will help bring the aircraft way down, the airline told Russian Aviation Insider.

The new economy-class seats are Dragonfly model by Zodiac Seats France. At the time the model was launched in 2010 it was one of the most lightweight in the industry.

The number of seats and the pitch will remain unchanged. “A320s will have 144 seats in economy and 12 in business-class”, – the company’s spokesperson explained. The backs of the seats recline, except for those seats that are located near the emergency exits and may not recline according to safety regulations.

As of today, one A320 aircraft cabin has been refurbished and fitted with the new seats. As a result, the aircraft weight has been decreased by 750 kg. At the same time the business-class seats were overhauled and modernized.

The Yekaterinburg-based carrier operates a fleet of 38 aircraft of A320 family (20 А320s, 11 А321s and seven А319s), aged between 8 and 19 years. Three more aircraft are scheduled to arrive within 2017. These new aircraft will be fitted with regular seats, the spokesperson said. “The seat replacement project covers aircraft that have been in operation for longer time, so their seats lost their functionality and appearance,” he explained.

By 2020 Ural Airlines plans to expand its fleet to 50 aircraft. Earlier the airline management was considering introducing an A330 to its fleet.

Ural Airlines is Russia’s fifth carrier by traffic. Last year its traffic increased 18.8% yea-on-year to 6.467 passengers.

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