Welcome to the cheap seats – Airbus file patent for moped style seating.

A patent filed by Airbus for moped style seating structures for use in Aircraft.

Serial French inventor Bernard Guering is the man behind the idea, and the seats have been designed with the “low cost” people herders such as Ryanair in mind.

The supporting document claims that while there is an increase in the number of seats on a plane, the system if adopted would be to the detriment of passenger comfort however, the seats would be tolerable for one to two hours maximum.

Travel expert Simon Calder has had his calculator out, writing in the Independent he claims the seating could add 50 passengers aboard a narrow-bodied plane – while Ryanair may squeeze 10 more people on each of its Boeing jets.

The patent also states ‘The invention could perfectly well be used in other transport means in which the aim is to transport a maximum number of passengers, such as coaches or planes.’

You can read the full patent here : Seating device comprising a forward-foldable backrest US 20140159444 A1