CNN) -- An investigation is under way into a previously unrevealed incident last week in which two jetliners nearly collided over Hong Kong, aviation authorities said Tuesday.
The September 18 incident reportedly did not come to light publicly until an article revealing it was published Tuesday in the English-language newspaper The Standard of Hong Kong.
The two jets, carrying more than 600 passengers and crew members, came within seconds of colliding, the newspaper reported, citing a former Hong Kong aviation official.
According to a statement issued by Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department, a Cathay Pacific Airways flight that was bound for Hong Kong International Airport came within 1 nautical mile (2 km) of a Dragonair A330 airplane that was in a holding pattern for landing.
The international standard for separation between aircraft is 5 nautical miles (9.26 kilometers) horizontally or 1,000 feet (304) meters vertically), the department said.
The incident happened during a stormy afternoon when aircraft were stacked up for landing over Hong Kong, the department said. An air traffic controller was trying to shuffle waiting aircraft around so that the Cathay Pacific flight, which was low on fuel, could land more quickly. That's when controllers noticed the flights were too close.
The pilots of both aircraft failed to respond to commands to change course at one point or another during the incident, the department said. Collision avoidance systems on both aircraft activated after the crew of the Cathay Pacific flight failed to respond to a command to climb to a higher altitude.
Cathay Pacific said in a statement that "both Cathay Pacific and Dragonair pilots had taken appropriate actions under the circumstances to re-establish standard separation between the two aircraft."
The pilots could see each other's planes during the incident and there was no risk of collision, the department and Cathay Pacific said.
But The Standard quoted Hong Kong's former civil aviation chief Albert Lam Kwong-yu as saying that, based on normal speeds of the airliners involved, they were about six seconds from colliding.
"The chance of a crash is absolutely high," the paper quoted Lam as saying. "The passengers really came back from hell."
The flights involved were Cathay 841 from New York to Hong Kong, and Dragonair 433 from Kaoshiung, Taiwan, to Hong Kong. The Cathay jet had 317 people aboard and the Dragonair jet had 296 aboard, according to aviation officials.
Investigators have ruled out air traffic controller fatigue as a cause of the near-collision, the department said. The air controller in charge of the flights was appropriately rested and has since returned to work, the agency said.
Investigators will examine air traffic procedures, staffing levels and flight crew operations, the department said.
Hong Kong has been the site of four other near-collision incidents in the last 11 years.
-- In September 2010, a Cathay Pacific plane taking off for London after midnight had to deviate from the runway center line at high speed because the tail of another plane was too close to its path.
-- In July 2006, a Dragonair Airbus and a Northwest Airlines Boeing -- both heading for Tokyo -- were reported to be just 100 meters apart vertically while 80 nautical miles east of the Hong Kong airport.
-- In September 2004, a China Southern Airlines plane leaving Hong Kong and an incoming Malaysia Airlines cargo plane came within 304 meters of each other 55 nautical miles south of the airport.
-- In June 2001, a Dragonair Airbus to Shanghai and a Cathay Pacific flight arriving from Seoul were reported 210 meters apart 110 nautical miles east of Hong Kong.
The two jets, carrying more than 600 passengers and crew members, came within seconds of colliding, the newspaper reported, citing a former Hong Kong aviation official. According to a statement issued by Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department,...
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Hong Kong (HKSAR) - Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, at the Launch of Cathay Pacific Flights to Chicago in Chicago today (September 26, Chicago time):
John (Slosar), Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening.
It is my great pleasure to be here in windy city Chicago.
Chicago is one of the world's greatest destinations for business and leisure travellers from around the globe as well as a leading centre for trade and finance.Even the names of your celebratedsports teams have all their bases in the world of business fully covered.When things are going well you have the Bulls; when things are heading in the other direction you have the Bears.And for new products and initiatives you have the Cubs.Very clever, your people in Chicago.
We are here to witness the birth of a young cub, marking a new initiative in the world of aviation.
Here, I wish to congratulate Cathay Pacific Airways on its launch of daily non-stop passenger flights between Hong Kong and Chicago.
This service began on September 1, and I am looking forward to the convenience and delight of a direct flight back to Hong Kong from Chicago tomorrow.The timing of this launch could hardly be better.
Hong Kong is well and truly open for business having fully recovered from the recent global economic turmoil.Hong Kong's economy expanded 7 per cent last year.Our GDP also grew 6.3 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2010.I don't mean to brag, but our unemployment rate stands currently at 3.2 per cent.
Over many years, our city has cemented its position as the premier international gateway to Mainland China, now the world's second largest economy, behind the US.
I know this will be of great interest to people of Chicago given the already strong links between the US business community and their partners in Mainland China.
As the world's freest economy, Hong Kong offers many unique advantages to entrepreneurs from Chicago doing business in Mainland China.Not only can we provide all the necessary expertise and facilitations in doing business on the Mainland, we stand also separately and uniquely as the major international financial centre in the Asian time zone.
You may be aware that we have our own freely convertible currency as well as free flows of capital, information and ideas.We have a low and simple tax system with salaries tax capped at 15 per cent and profits tax at 16.5 per cent.We have no capital gains tax, no death duties, no VAT, no GST.We don't even have any duty on wine in Hong Kong.
We also go the extra mile to root out corruption and ensure a level playing field for all.
Around 70 of the world's largest 100 banks operate in our city.And, we have a broad and deep pool of financial, legal and business talents operating in Hong Kong.
All these features support Hong Kong's role as an ideal testing ground for new products and ideas as the Mainland opens up to reform and liberalises its markets.This is particularly the case for the internationalisation of the Mainland currency, the Renminbi.
Renminbi banking, Renminbi trade settlement and a Renminbi bond market are all relatively new and fast-expanding features of Hong Kong's financial services sector.
As our city's flag carrier, Cathay Pacific has been an important part of our city's transformation into an international business, financial and tourism hub in Asia.
I am confident that Cathay's new direct flight service will give an additional lift to trade and investment between us and help to continue the momentum in building even closer ties between our communities.Fast, convenient and high quality air services underpin Hong Kong's credentials as a globally connected city.
Hong Kong International Airport is consistently ranked among the world's best and busiest airports for both passengers and air freight.Last year, the airport handled more than 50 million passengers and 4 million tones of air cargo.Our aviation network connects to more than 150 destinations around the world, including 40 cities in Mainland China.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is currently exploring options to expand the capacity of our airport.This includes the possibility of building a third runway to meet expected increase in demand beyond 2020.
As a relatively small city in the heart of East Asia, high-quality aviation services are essential to our competitiveness in the region.
Our prime location in the heart of East Asia means that Hong Kong is within five hours flying time from half the world's population.
Direct passenger flights to and from Chicago will make Hong Kong an even more attractive connecting hub for business travellers and tourists from the US to destinations throughout Asia.
On the topic of travel, allow me to briefly mention two major cross-boundary infrastructure projects currently under construction.
The first is an Express Rail Link that will connect Hong Kong to the expansive high-speed rail network in Mainland China.This project is expected to be commissioned in 2015.Once completed, it will speed passengers to major Mainland cities in a fraction of the time it currently takes by train.
Another exciting project is a massive 29-kilometre bridge connecting Hong Kong with the Mainland city of Zhuhai and nearby Macau.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is expected to open in around 2016.It will provide a direct link to the less developed western part of the dynamic Pearl River Delta where we see huge potential for business growth.
We are also in the planning phase for a rail link between our International Airport and the Shenzhen Airport just across the boundary.This would complement the development of both places.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this year marks an important milestone in Hong Kong's aviation development.It was back in 1911, that the first powered flight took off in our city.
The launch of new direct flights between Chicago and Hong Kong is a great addition to our Centennial celebrations of aviation development.
Both our cities have much to gain from closer bilateral ties, not only through the bulls, bears and cubs of the business and financial worlds, but also in tourism, education, arts, culture and even sports.
Finally, I wish Cathay Pacific every success with its new Chicago service and I look forward to even stronger links between Chicago, "The Windy City" and Hong Kong, Asia's world city.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this year marks an important milestone in Hong Kong's aviationdevelopment.It was back in 1911, that the first powered flight took off in our city. The launch of new direct flights between Chicago and Hong Kong is a great addition ...
Ltd. (Hong Kong/Shanghai) and producing this blog. The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. The delivery, on September 25, of a Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” to All Nippon Airways, the first of 55 plans on order ...
HONG KONG — Asia-Pacific's boomingaviation sector is facing a serious pilot shortfall with some carriers forced to cut flights and ground new planes because of the gap, US aviationgiant Boeing said Monday. The region will need more than 180000 in ...
Time is mature for Sichuan province to build a state-level international aviationhub. Located at the midpoint of the Europe-Asia aviationroute, Chengdu is a golden transit hub for flights from Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia to Europe and Middle ...
Next month marks the fourth anniversary of the Airbus A380's entry into service. Since the maiden commercial flight by Singapore Airlines, A380s have carried more than 20 million passengers on flights with SIA and five other operators: Emirates, Qantas, Lufthansa, Air France and Korean Air. 56 A380s are now in service, with approximately ten more to be delivered by the end of the year. A380 operations are clustered around a handful of key international points. A380s currently serve 25 airports on 38 separate routes. Seven airports account for more than half of all A380 routes.
Outside of the home hubs of A380 operators – Singapore, Dubai, Sydney, Melbourne, Paris CDG, Frankfurt and Seoul Incheon – the most important airports are New York JFK and Tokyo Narita. These airports have four airlines flying A380s to/from them. London Heathrow and Hong Kong have three airlines flying A380s to/from them.
A380 current and upcoming destinations: Sep-2011
Half of the world's 30 busiest international airport have A380 service - the rest coming soon
Fifteen of the world's 30 busiest airports by international traffic have A380 operations at present. Four more - Amsterdam Schipol, Munich, Kuala Lumpur and Rome Fiumicino - will have A380 services added under the upcoming Northern Winter schedule.
Most of the remaining leading international airports without A380 services are capable of handling the aircraft. Several airports - such as London Gatwick - have been actively wooing airlines to bring in A380s.
As of Aug-2011, the A380 was cleared to operate to over 130 airports worldwide. Given the size of the aircraft and some of its specialised needs in terms of air traffic separation and runway, taxiway, gate and aircraft parking requirements, this is a significant destination pool. But with almost all carriers but Emirates having placed small orders for the A380, they will likely continue to concentrate their A380 operations on a small selection of those 130 airports, especially when it is considered some long-haul routes require more than one aircraft per daily rotation.
A380 services at the world’s 30 busiest airports by international traffic (as at Sep-2011)
Rank
Airports
A380 operators
Planned A380 service
1
London Heathrow
Paris CDG
Singapore Airlines
Malaysia Airlines from 2Q2012
Emirates
Qantas
2
Air France
China Southern possibly in late 2011
Singapore Airlines
3
Emirates
Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines
Emirates
Korean Air
4
Dubai
Emirates
5
Frankfurt
Lufthansa
Korean Air from Dec-2011
Thai Airways in 2012
Singapore Airlines from Jan-2012
6
Amsterdam Schiphol
-
Malaysia Airlines in 2012
7
Singapore Changi
Singapore Airlines
Lufthansa from Oct-2011
Qantas
8
Seoul Incheon
Korean Air
9
Tokyo Narita
Singapore Airlines
Lufthansa
Korean Air
Air France
10
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
Emirates
Korean Air
11
Madrid Barajas
-
12
London Gatwick
-
13
Munich
-
Emirates from Jan-2012
14
Kuala Lumpur
-
Emirates from Dec-2011,
Malaysia Airlines from 2Q2012
15
Rome Fiumicino
-
Emirates from Dec-2011
16
Taipei
-
17
New York JFK
Emirates
Singapore Airlines from Jan-2012
Air France
Lufthansa
Korean Air
18
Zurich
Singapore Airlines
19
Istanbul
-
20
Toronto
Emirates
21
Copenhagen
-
20
Shanghai Pudong
Emirates
China Southern from Oct-2011
21
Houston
-
22
Vienna
-
23
Antalya
-
24
Dublin
-
25
Barcelona
-
26
Brussels
-
27
Miami
Lufthansa
28
London Stansted
-
29
Los Angeles International
Singapore Airlines
Qantas
30
Doha
-
Source: CAPA – Centre for Aviation & ACI
The world’s busiest airport (total domestic + international passengers) Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson, is notably absent from the list of A380 airports, although that will change with the introduction of service by Korean Air from 2012. Other major airports in the top 30 (in terms of international and domestic) with A380 services include Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong and Sydney.
A380 services at world’s 30 busiest airports by domestic and international traffic
Global Rank
Airports
Operators
Planned A380 service
1
Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson
-
Korean Air in 2012
2
Beijing Capital
Lufthansa
China Southern from Sep-2011
20
Shanghai Pudong
Emirates
China Southern from Oct-2011
23
San Francisco
Lufthansa
27
Sydney Airport
Qantas
Emirates
Singapore Airlines
30
Delhi
-
Lufthansa application for rights reportedly refused
Changing strategy and operational patterns
Early operators such as Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Qantas deployed the aircraft on long-haul, premium oriented routes. Their route strategies maximised the scarcity and novelty value of the aircraft for passengers, as well as its efficiency and capacity. As more aircraft have entered service and more carriers join the operating roster, the A380 route network and its role in airline network planning has slowly begun to fill out. This will continue as airlines like Emirates and Qantas take delivery of A380 aircraft configured with more seats than their existing A380 fleet. Such configurations less reliant on premium passengers will see the A380 open secondary premium markets or markets more targeted towards leisure traffic.
Emirates – leading A380 strategy
Emirates, the largest A380 operator with 15 aircraft in service and 75 more in order, has been one of the leaders in this changing strategy. As the global financial crisis bit into corporate travel budgets in 2008 and premium and business travel dropped, the airline showed its flexibility by pulling the A380 off its flagship Dubai-New York route. It re-deployed the aircraft to Bangkok and Toronto – destinations that suited the higher capacity of the aircraft.
Despite the relatively small size of the city, Toronto is a particularly strong example for Airbus' case that the A380 can act as a congestion buster. With the UAE-Canadian bilateral air services agreement limiting Emirates to three flights per week, deploying the A380 allowed the carrier to boost its capacity into Toronto by around 420 seats per week without increasing the number of flights.
Shorter routes and somewhat smaller destinations are beginning to appear on the A380 route map, again with Emirates leading the strategic adjustment. Since Jan-2010, the Middle Eastern carrier has operated its ‘medium density’ configured A380s - with 517 seats - on the Dubai-Jeddah service, a sector of just three hours. This also helps Emirates increase the A380's utilisation rate as it would otherwise spend large amounts of time on the ground.
Emirates has also requested approval to operate A380s on high-yielding sectors into India, although it has not yet received permission from the Indian Government to do so. A similar regulatory block has stymied Lufthansa's attempts to fly A380s into India.
Emirates is also pushing the aircraft into smaller airports. The carrier put A380s onto Dubai-Manchester service in Sep-2010 – replacing a B777-300ER - and has seen its traffic to the city hit record levels.
Korean Air makes cautious start
In Asia, Korean Air had a cautious launch of A380 operations in Jun-2011 by deploying the aircraft only to regional destinations (Tokyo Narita, Hong Kong, Bangkok). All Nippon Airways will take a similar approach with its B787s, initially using them regionally, whereas early A380 operators Emirates and Qantas immediately placed their A380s on ultra-long-haul routes. Launch operator Singapore Airlines confined its initial A380 operations to the Singapore-Sydney route before expanding to ultra-long-haul sectors. Such caution is not without merit as Emirates, citing engineering work, had to temporarily withdraw its A380 operations a month after the launch. Deployment on short sectors also permits staff, especially pilots, to quickly gain in-service experience.
Korean Air is continuing to shift some of the aircraft to long-haul destinations, including Paris CDG, Frankfurt, New York JFK and Los Angeles. However, it will continue to deploy the A380s into Japan and Hong Kong, further boosting the type's utilisation rate, as Emirates does with Jeddah and Singapore Air to Hong Kong. Korean Air's move demonstrates the A380 has intra-regional capabilities akin to its B747s and B777s that serve short regional flights in-between long-haul sectors, a common strategy replicated across major Asian carriers.
Singapore is also expanding its A380 operation with an announcement earlier this month that it plans to operate Singapore-New York JFK-Frankfurt service with A380s, as it phases out its final B747-400s.
China Southern, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways reveal A380 plans
With three new operators due to take delivery of their first aircraft in the next 12 months, and Airbus pushing production up to 35 aircraft per annum, the A380 fleet will continue to grow and the network strategies for the A380 will continue to develop.
China Southern to open first domestic A380 route
Next month China Southern Airlines will join the list of A380 operators. The carrier ordered its five A380s in 2005 and will operate the first service in mid-Oct-2011. It is the only Chinese airline to have ordered the A380, although an order expected from Hainan Airlines’ subsidiary Hong Kong airlines failed to materialise at this year’s Paris Air Show, reportedly due to Chinese government disapproval of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
China Southern’s addition to the A380 family will also see the first domestic scheduled routes operated with the type. The carrier is planning to operate Beijing-Guangzhou service from 18-Oct-2011, before switching to Beijing-Shanghai service on 27-Oct-2011.
Where the carrier will take the A380 internationally has not been formally announced, as the airline is still awaiting final CAAC sign-off for international services with the aircraft. Reports are that the airline plans to initially operate to Paris, followed by New York JFK, adding another two routes to destinations that already see significant A380 traffic.
The carrier will outfit its A380s in a three-class, 506 seat configuration. China Southern this month will officially unveil the seating arrangement, although seat maps have emerged via Chinese social media sites and been confirmed by the airline.
China Southern’s A380s will feature eight first class and 352 economy class seats on the lower deck. The upper deck will have 70 business class seats at the front and 76 economy seats at the rear. The configuration has a high density of economy seats but a typical, for the A380, mixture of premium seats.
Malaysia Airlines to concentrate on Europe and Australia
Malaysia Airlines is due to get its first A380s in 2Q2012. The carrier was due to fit its A380 aircraft with 508 seats in four classes (eight first class, 54 business, 26 premium economy and 420 economy) although this is expected to change following reviews that commenced after AirAsia acquired a stake in the carrier. MAS is due to receive five aircraft in 2012 with the sixth and final A380 due in 2013.
Malaysia Airlines will continue in the long-haul, premium focused mould already established by other A380 operators. It has already announced its A380s will be primarily dedicated to high-yielding European routes – initially London Heathrow and Amsterdam, the first time an A380 will serve the Dutch city. Other routes under consideration are Sydney and Melbourne.
Thai Airways
Like Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways is due to join the A380 sorority in 2012 and has adopted a similar intercontinental focus for the aircraft. The carrier has six A380s on order, with its first two expected for delivery next year.
It has announced that it will initially deploy the aircraft to Frankfurt, with service expected to commence in Oct-2012. Following that Thai expects to serve London Heathrow and Paris CDG.
Appendix: Orders & Configurations
Airbus markets the A380 as the “ideal solution to alleviate traffic congestion at busy airports”. According to the European manufacturer it is "mega-cities" – those featuring RPKs in excess of 5 billion p/a or 10,000 daily long-haul passengers – that will drive demand for very large aircraft (VLA) such as the A380. Globally, 39 cities currently meet these thresholds, but Airbus expects this to climb to 87 by 2029. More than 90% of global long-haul passenger traffic starts, terminates or goes through an aviation mega-city.
Mega-city growth will be concentrated by Asia, and it shows in the A380 order book. By 2030, Airbus forecasts 10 of the 20 largest VLA airports will be in the Asia Pacific (indicated by a light pink circle).
2030 VLA aircraft forecast
Airlines in the Asia Pacific account for nine of the 17 A380 customers. Over the next 12 months three more Asian airlines – China Southern, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways – will join the family of A380 operators, bringing new destinations and new strategies for the giant aircraft.
Airbus’ most recent 20-year global market forecast, released in Sep-2011, raised the outlook for VLA orders from 1738 to 1781 aircraft. 45% of these aircraft are forecast to be delivered to customers in Asia, 23% to go to the Middle East and 19% to European airlines. North America and the rest of the world will purchase just 13% of VLAs, according to Airbus’ predictions.
Configurations - trending toward greater seat density
With two full decks and a nominal design capacity of 525 seats in three-class configuration, the A380 offers airlines a wide number of options in terms of layouts. The aircraft has clear total seat capacity advantage over other long-range aircraft such as the A340-500/600, B777-300/200, B747-400 and even Boeing’s new 747-8 Intercontinental, although the A380 is at a disadvantage when it comes to carrying freight.
Most of the inital A380 customers have proved reluctant to turn the aircraft into an economy class workhorse. Instead, the initial focus has been on the premium traveller. Early A380 configurations have featured lavish amenities, reminiscent of the B747 when it first entered service in the 1970s. Singapore Airlines' A380s boast first class suites with double beds, while Emirates A380s have showers. Several carriers offer bars and lounge areas. Korean Air has even outfitted its aircraft with an onboard duty free store.
Singapore Airlines' initial A380 configuration was just 471 seats, while Emirates, the the second A380 operator, had an initial configuration of 489 seats. A high benchmark may not be set until Emirates introduces a more dense configuration, or Air Austral around 2014 places into service its A380 configured with almost the maximum number of seats – 853 – the aircraft is approved for.
Bucking the trend is Singapore Airlines and Japan's Skymark Airlines. Skymark plans to operate the least dense configuration yet, with a total of 394 seats – approximately 15 seats less than current configurations from Korean Airlines and Singapore Airlines. Singapore Airlines in May-2011 took delivery of its first lower density A380 having 409 seats over its initial 471-seat configuration. The new configuration has 88 fewer economy seats in favour of 26 additional business class seats.
A380 operators seat configurations
Airline
First A380
Delivery
A380s in service
Total
seats
First
Business
Premium
Economy
Economy
Singapore Airlines
Oct-2007
12
409
12
86
311
471
12
60
399
Emirates
Jul-2008
15
489
14
76
399
517
14
76
427
Korean Air
Jun-2011
4
407
12
94
301
Lufthansa
May-2009
8
526
8
98
420
Qantas
Sep-2008
10
450
14
72
32
332
Air France
Oct-2009
6
516
9
80
38
389
538
9
80
449
China Southern
Oct-2011*
-
506
8
70
428
Malaysia Airlines
2Q2012*
-
508
8
54
420
Thai Airways
Aug-2012*
-
507
12
60
435
Skymark Airlines
2014*
-
394
114
280
Air Austral
2014*
-
“around 840”
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation & airline reports
*Scheduled delivery
500 - the magic number of seats?
As the novelty value of the aircraft has begun to wear off, the premium-focused seating configurations are gradually giving way to greater density layouts. Layouts between 500 and 550 seats, with 400-450 economy class seats, have become the norm.
Emirates has supplemented its initial layouts with a higher density configuration featuring more economy seats. It has also announced a high-density 644-seat layout, but has not equipped any of its aircraft in this configuration yet.
Qantas' A380s were introduced in Oct-2008, with 450 seats and the airline was the first to offer premium economy service. The Australian carrier announced last year its intention to abandon first class altogether for its last eight A380s that are now not due for delivery until FY2019. The carrier has opted for a split fleet, to give it “greater flexibility to schedule the right aircraft, and the right configuration, on the right route, based on market demand”. The remaining eight A380 deliveries are due to feature business, premium economy and economy classes, although the exact combination has not been announced.
Lufthansa and Air France, which did not take delivery of their first A380s until 2009, both adopted initial configurations with more than 500 seats. China Southern, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways have all announced A380 configurations that feature just over 500 seats.
There is still experimentation with the aircraft though. Air Austral, the Reunion based French carrier, has announced it will configure its aircraft in an all-economy layout of “around 840” seats. After Air Austral announced the all-economy layout, Airbus COO congratulated the carrier on showing “the potential of the A380 in the market of today and tomorrow” and offering the real benefits of "doing more with less".
At the other end of the scale, Japanese LCC Skymark Airlines, is experimenting with an all-premium layout. The airline, which finalised its order for A380s earlier this year, has announced its A380 will feature just 394 seats, the lowest seating density of any operator to date. The carrier's aircraft will have 280 premium-economy seats on the lower deck and 114 business-class seats on the upper deck.
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