Arguably, flying has become more democratic. Air travel is now more accessible to more people than ever before, and this is indeed a global phenomenon. Therefore not limited to only a select few developed nations where travelers with higher disposable income reside.
We’ve see the explosive growth of LCC (Low Cost Carriers) – better known as Budget Airlines – across the world. Even some of the smallest (or youngest) European countries whose state-owned (mostly) flag carriers are suffering financially now have multiple budget airlines.
The human thirst (and curiosity) to travel is unstoppable. Attractive airfares are making it the quest to explore even more appealing. The other interesting reality is that as nations’ economies expand, something else – seemingly unrelated at first sight – expands as well… the passengers’ waistline. Hence, making it more uncomfortable to travel long distances. If one is of relative “plus size”, being “stuck” in a seat more than 5 hours – as is the case with any transoceanic travel, is sheer agony! What are the options then, in the “seat type” department?
The vast majority of air travelers fly coach (that’s economy for the rest of the world!), and it is therefore interesting to see what choices are out there, and whether all airline seats are created equal. The good and bad news about it is, that there is a difference – in seat pitch and mere inches – all of which add up to extra comfort when flying long haul.
In my quest for this particular information, I was then pleasantly surprised to have stumbled upon “The Most Comfortable Airline Economy Seats” blog post that appeared in Geek About. The following are their findings.
Not all economy seats are created equal. Can you get a good seat experience for decent shut-eye? By doing a little bit of digging you’ll find out enough info to help you make a flight in economy a pleasant flight, instead of an unbearable one. My suggestion is that you should be aware of what one or two inches of leg room can do — it makes the difference between being able to open your laptop all the way or being able to cross my legs comfortably. Seat pitch and width can vary greatly between airline carriers and aircraft type. So, when you’re comparing flights, be sure to check out the comparison chart at the end of the post to help you identify the differences between seat pitch and width on different airlines.
Seat pitch is the distance from any point on one seat to the exact same point on the seat in front or behind it. And while it is not the exact equivalent of “legroom”, it does give a very good approximation of how much seat room you should expect. The Bottom Line: the more seat pitch the better!
Photo: Travis Church
Virgin America – Where JetBlue attempts to woo its patrons with extra leg room and some satellite audio and video content, Virgin has opted for a sensory barrage. Stepping into what is seemingly a “purple palace” in the sky with fully-equipped mood lighting, the brand new fleet of aircrafts at Virgin America provide passengers with some of the latest technology for in-flight entertainment and productivity. The Airbus A320 features comfortable leather seats in coach class, and a comfortable pitch of 32” and width of 19.7”.
Emirates – Emirates is relatively generous to their coach passengers in terms of legroom. Coach passengers flying the A330 can expect their seats to have a pitch of 32”, while flying the B777 aircraft will up the ante to 33”-34”. Seat width remains approximately 17.5” on either type of aircraft.
Singapore Airlines – Singapore Airline were the first airline in the world to put into service the Airbus A380. The A380 has 32“ seat pitch and 19” width. The Singapore Airbus A340-500 used on long haul flight between New York and Singapore is even more spacious than the bigger A380 with 37“ of seat pitch and 20“ seat width.
