A Superjumbo Jigsaw Puzzle

Sometimes designers set out to create something gorgeous; other times, it’s a technological breakthrough. Often, though, their goals are more mundane, like finding a way to shave an inch off the width of the back of the cheapest seat in an aircraft.

Slimming down the cheap seats was one of innumerable design challenges faced in work on the Qantas A380, which is being prepared for its first flight next month, from a factory in Toulouse, France, to Sydney. It will begin regular commercial flights in October.