Well, the issue is a sociological one, not one of people being stingy.

The flights to the Reunion are very similar to the flight from Paris to Guadeloupe and Martinique. Half the tickets are essentially bought by locals that moved from the overseas departments/territories to mainland France for work reasons (that is to move from no job on the island to basic jobs in the mainland) and who go back to visit family. These people are not stingy, they simply don’t have the financial capacity to upgrade in Business.

The other half of passengers is made up of people who have bought a one week all inclusive stay in a resort hotel on the cheap.

The few business seats offered by Air France are taken by senior officials and the very few people heading to these places to conduct business. If more were offered, it would not be taken.

In other words, the proposed high-capacity A380 seating plan is probably a logical response to the characteristics of the local market.