Payload
Technically you are right that seats, showers, etc are not usually considered as payload. But as you say Payload is what 'Pays'. The reason why pax choose to fly on the A380 (and belive me they do !) and to pay higher prices (which they also do) is beacause they have comfy seats/suites and other ameneties like showers. So these items do generate revenue - that's why EK have them in the aircraft - and hence if you want to compare different a/c you have to consider this as Payload.You are absolutely right that flying an A380 with 250 Pax on board does not work economically. I would be very interested to know what the load factors on the EK A380's and B777-300's are like (especially in business class) ? SQ's experience so far nearly 1 year into Ops is that the A380 load factors (especially in business) are better than the B747/B777's on the same routes.