The MS-21 designers were tasked with designing the aircraft in such a way as to ensure a balance of passenger personal space, aisle width and aerodynamics of the airliner. When developing the cabin layout, the engineers of the Yakovlev Design Bureau took into account the requirements not only of scheduled airlines, but also of low-cost carriers, for whom a wide aisle would ensure faster passenger boarding and disembarkation and reduce airport parking time.
At the same time, the passenger’s personal space was prioritised, around which the dimensions of the cabin and fuselage of the MS-21 were designed. Nikita Shapiro, Head of the Sketch Design Department of the Yakovlev Engineering Centre, told Izvestia in an interview.
In aircraft construction there is a tradition of using the non-metric unit of length measurement inch to indicate dimensions in the interior. This is due to the inch pitch of the mounting holes for installing passenger seats. The seats are attached to longitudinal rails that distribute the load on the aircraft structure. This system allows the pitch of the seats to be easily changed, which is convenient for rapid cabin reconfiguration depending on seasonal changes in passenger flows and the type of airline carrier.
“The seat pitch is usually set by the airlines. For an economy cabin it is taken within 29-32 inches (73.7-81.3 cm). In the MC-21 we have set the seat pitch at 32 inches (81.3 cm) for a typical economy class. A person 177-180 cm tall sits without resting his knees on the back of the front seat. With a seat pitch of 32 inches, the MS-21 will seat 181 passengers, and when the pitch is reduced to 29 inches (73.7 cm), low-cost carriers seat up to 211 people,” said Nikita Shapiro.
He explained that passengers with a high stature in the cabin with a dense layout may not be so comfortable due to the limitation of legroom.
Also, the head of the Yakovlev design division said that the size of toilets in the MS-21 can be reduced from 36 to 31 inches at the request of airlines, as well as reduce the size of kitchen units, which is in line with modern trends in aircraft construction aimed at optimising the use of cabin space and increasing the number of seats. The MS-21 features flexible layouts that allow the cabin to be adapted to the requirements of a particular airline. Reducing the size of sanitary modules is more relevant on short routes, where the need for full-fledged meals and services is reduced, explained N. Shapiro.
