Could cattle class get any worse?

And now Airbus is set to introduce an extra seat to each row of its Airbus A380 model, squeezing yet more passengers onto each plane.

From 2017 there will be 11 seats incorporated into the same space as the current 10 are placed, and a fourth class introduced in response to the new dreaded middle seat.

The addition of the centre seat will change the current configuration from 3-4-3 to become a 3-5-3 set up.

At the moment the company uses First, Business and Economy class, but there will soon be the addition of 'budget economy', cleverly branded as Choice Economy.

Some critics have gone as far as calling the new set-up 'economy minus'.

Senior Vice President of Marketing for Airbus Christopher Emerson, told trade publication Leeham News and Comment: 'Ninety per cent of world travellers are economy but not all are homogeneous.

'We want to give a choice to the 90 per cent of the economy passengers. They are going to be the driver of the growth, the doubling of growth in the next 15 years.'

Miraculously the inclusion of an additional seat will not alter the seat width for economy ticket holders. 

Currently the width is 18in, which falls in line with the aircraft manufacturer's manifesto 18 months ago to adopt that size as an industry standard.

Airbus claims a rearrange of the cabin has enabled it to maintain this width and squeeze in the extra seat. 

The width of the arm rest, however, will change, with the aircraft adopting a slimmer version. 

The launch was announced in Hamburg this week, despite customer Emirates Airlines confirming it would not pursue the new arrangement for its aircraft - reportedly over fears the new design could affect its reputation for quality economy seating, according to trade publication Aviation Week.

Airbus Vice President-Cabin Innovation and Design Ingo Wuggetzer said at the Aircraft Interiors Expo that more innovation should be going into economy cabins. 

'In the past most innovation went into premium products, but that is only for six per cent of the travellers,' he said.

(dailymail.co.uk)