Airframer follows Boeing lead and moves A350 sleep compartments from underfloor locations to upper fuselage
Airbus has implemented another revamp to the configuration of the A350, adopting the Boeing-style overhead location for the flight and cabin crew rest compartments.
Until recently the Airbus A350 XWB featured the underfloor rest compartment configuration adopted for the previous version of the aircraft - with the flightcrew zone located under the flightdeck and the cabin crew area in the bulk cargo hold.
Boeing has offered a cabin crew rest compartment in the upper fuselage above the cabin on the 747 and 777, and introduced a similar configuration for the flightcrew compartment on the 777, above the forward cabin. The overhead layout has been adopted for the 787.
On previous Airbus and Boeing aircraft the flightcrew rest compartment has occupied revenue space by being located by the flightdeck in cabin, while Airbus cabin crew zones are typically in the cargo hold. On the original A330-derived A350 version, Airbus created a two-berth flightcrew compartment in what was the avionics bay under the flightdeck - necessitating a reprofiling of the nose section to provide sufficient standing height. The cabin crew area was in the bulk cargo hold.
Having retained this configuration initially for the A350 XWB, industry sources say Airbus has abandoned the idea and followed Boeing's lead, with both compartments in the upper fuselage.
The new configuration has an eight-berth cabin crew compartment located above the rear cabin with access from the rear galley, while the flightcrew compartment is in the upper forward fuselage.
Although Airbus acknowledges that it is "looking at the possibility of overhead crew rest facilities", it declines to confirm that it has taken the decision to adopt the revised configuration. "We continue to work on the development of the A350 XWB, studying all possible options," it adds.
However, according to industry sources, Airbus took the decision to move to the overhead configuration in mid-January. The rethink followed particular concerns from potential A350 customers that the bulk cargo hold location for the cabin crew compartment impinged on revenue space.
It is understood that there were also issues with the under-cockpit flightcrew compartment location as it restricted the space available for avionics equipment.
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Source: Flight International
