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The Irish Sun

Airlines are scrapping economy seats to fit more ‘expensive' passengers onboard and it's bad news for your cheap flights

AIRLINES are scrapping some of their economy seats to make room - for more expensive ones on their planes. Air France 's new La Premiere cabin recently launched onboard, but costs $11,000 (£8,288.87) to travel between Paris and New York, America. Advertisement 4 Air France is spending million on fitting out it's planes Credit: Air France 4 This includes the 38-square-foot La Premiere cabin Credit: Air France Yet, there are passengers that are willing to pay this. The La Premiere cabin is part of Air Frances $550million (£414.4million) investment to upgrade existing planes and lounges and push to attract higher spending travellers. But they aren't the only airline doing this, reports the Airlines across the planet are racing to build the most exclusive and high-end cabins available on the market, for passengers who are willing to pay the top dollar. Advertisement Read more on flights This includes upgrading soft amenities, such as caviar and champagne, teaming up with designers to provide custom pajamas and partnering with Michelin star chefs to upgrade menu offerings. The push is partially as a result of business passengers not returning to pre-COVID levels and therefore airlines are looking for ways to increase their profits. This is because economy seats are there to subsidise the cost of flying, whereas premier seats and cabins are there to make the airline money. Essentially, airlines can charge more for business and Advertisement Most read in News Travel But all of this depends on the amount of money regular leisure passengers are willing to spend. For example, a regular economy seat can cost under $1,000 (£753.53), for a return flight between Qantas reveal Project Sunrise A350 This then doubles to $2,000 (£1,507.07) for a But the jump to a La Premiere cabin, for instance, goes up to $11,000 (£8,288.87). Advertisement Cabins are more private and do have more space - La Premiere cabins span 38-square-foot and have five windows each. In comparison some For the ultimate luxury and space, Yet despite this, it remains unclear whether leisure passengers spending more money on these seats will actually last. Advertisement 4 Many airlines are looking to upgrade their more premium offerings Credit: Air France With the waitlist for planes and components being long, airlines have to commit to seat layout far in advance. This means This may include looking at specific routes, to see whether people spend more money on one route over another and consequently there is higher demand for more premium seats. Advertisement Then airlines can assess whether to get rid of economy seats to make room for more premium seats. If the number of economy seats were reduced, it could cause them to become more expensive as demand may also increase for these seats. Airbus also recently Plus, Advertisement 4 This could mean less economy seats Credit: Getty