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Airbus calls for wider seats on long flights

By Alanna Petroff  @AlannaPetroff October 28, 2013: 12:55 PM ET

Seats in the economy section of large planes can vary in width -- some planes offer seats that are 17 inches wide while others offer a roomier 19 inches.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Airbus is calling on the airline industry to require wider seats on long-haul flights, citing a new study that found that just an extra inch of room vastly improves in-flight comfort and sleep quality.

The study from The London Sleep Centre found that seats, with a width of 18 inches, led to a 53% improvement in passenger sleep quality compared to the 17-inch standard offered by many airlines.

Airbus, part of the pan-European aerospace conglomerate EADS (EADSF), is hoping that all airlines will adopt the 18-inch standard for long-haul flights.
Airbus' call seemed more like a missive aimed at its rival across the ocean, Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), which makes planes with narrower seats, said U.S.-based airline consultant Jay Sorensen from IdeaWorksCompany.
"It's a rather shameless attempt at self-promotion using statistics from sponsored research," said Sorensen.
Related: American Airlines plans to pack more people onto planes
Airbus said that seats on its long-haul planes were already at least 18 inches wide.
The company said "other manufacturers [were] eroding passenger comfort standards by going back to narrower seat widths."
The aircraft manufacturer said the 1950's standard of 17 inches is out of date, as more people are flying frequent long-haul flights.