Airline Leg Room List

[Mosha]

From uk.msn. These are economy seats

Here are the top 10 airlines for legroom:

1 - Cathay Pacific

1 - Singapore Airlines

3 - ANA

4 - Korean Air

4 - Etihad

6 - Thai Airways

6 - Japan Airlines

6 - Emirates

9 - American Airlines

10 - Kenya Airways

10 - United

10 - Virgin Atlantic

Here are the worst 10 airlines for legroom:

1 - Iberia

2 - Easyjet

3- Air Berlin

4 - Air France

4- TAM

5 - Finnair

5 - Jet Airways

6 - Turkish Airlines

7 - Ryanair

8 - Lufthansa

[pbeieio]

Tiger Airways was my worstexperience for being cramped in, from BKK-Singapore. Never again!!

[dundas]

Assuming the list is for economy class, I'm not sure how up to date it is. I've flown several times recently on the Singapore Airlines A380 and the only word I have for it is "cramped." Ditto for my last flight earlier this year on a Japan Airlines 767, and I know that Thai are busy reducing their seat pitch in economy class - from 34" to 32" on the A380. Doesn't sound much, but it makes a big difference. The other factor that's not mentioned is the presence (or not) of entertainment boxes on the floor. If you have one of those in front of you, your leg room is reduced substantially from what's nominally offered.

Edited November 2, 2012 by dundas

[SeaVisionBurma]

The list is too arbitrary - no pitch given for any of the airlines.

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[Sam Drucker]

This is a really useless list! It has no details. Seating legroom varies within the different aircraft the within the carrier fleets. Take THAI for example:

Their A340-600, 747s, and 777-200ER's have a generous 34" seat pitch in economy. Their A340-500's even had 36"! (they stopped using them earlier this year.) But THAI's new A380's and 777-300ERs have dropped seat pitch to 32" Yes, they won an award last year for "Best economy cabin seating in the world" and were bragging it up, and what did they do with new aircraft on order? Reduced seat pitch!

I also have to wonder why airlines like Cathay Pacific, United, and American are on this list as some of the best for leg room? They're all down around 31-32" seat pitches. I'm guessing it is because they do have limited Premium Economy / Economy products, though that is for a privileged few with status or willing to pay extra, not the general masses.

Better to know what specific aircraft is used by a carrier on the route you're interested in, then refer to the carrier's seating charts (if they disclose seat pitch), or www.seatguru.com

PS. Asiana should be ranked up there. They have 34" seat pitch, at least on their long-haul aircraft.

[lomatopo]

seatguru and seatexpert have pitch by carrier, aircraft. I think they are accurate as they are scraped from the airlines' websites, and BiS flyers' first-hand experiences.

Agree that ranking carriers is close to useless, except in the case of AY.

[tw25rw]

Pitch isn't the only factor. The depth of the seat back is also important. If the seat back is thin, the seat pitch can be less than a seat with a larger pitch and have as much room.

[WilliaminBKK]

Pitch isn't the only factor. The depth of the seat back is also important. If the seat back is thin, the seat pitch can be less than a seat with a larger pitch and have as much room.

Absolutely, pitch can be very deceiving look at those awful CX Y class shell seats. The other thing that should be a concern are the inflight AVOD boxes under the seat in front of you - even with 34/36 you can't stretch.

[jpinx]

Pitch isn't the only factor. The depth of the seat back is also important. If the seat back is thin, the seat pitch can be less than a seat with a larger pitch and have as much room.

Agreed - ryanair are not so bad as the figures suggest cos very thin-backed seat and no reclining.

Airfrance was terrible last month to Paris.

Klm were just ok but I was lucky to have an empty seat beside me.

AirBerlin were terrible.

[Bpuumike]

At least Lufthansa are in their rightful place.

[SipSam]

Pitch isn't the only factor. The depth of the seat back is also important. If the seat back is thin, the seat pitch can be less than a seat with a larger pitch and have as much room.

Yes I think this could possibly be a reason for the reduced pitch on the Thai A380, the new gen of planes are all getting pretty thin seats, would think the 787 would be the same, if your sitting further back into the seat then your arse and naturally the legs connected to it would be further back making up that lost space in front. Could be wrong be seems logical.

[ravip]

Have a look here.

There is a mine of info on the subject.

[lomatopo]

Pitch isn't the only factor. The depth of the seat back is also important. If the seat back is thin, the seat pitch can be less than a seat with a larger pitch and have as much room.

Agree, that's why seatguru and seatexpert have at least some detail re: exact seats based on actual flyer's experiences. Perfect? Hardly. Comprehensive? Eh. But surely more informative than the silly lists in the OP.

The Skytrax link merely scrapes the airline's websites for maps, as near as I can determine.

[inapeartree]

Worth noting Etihad have changed their configuration on their 777-300ER out of BKK from a 3-3-3 to a 3-4-3 so, although legroom might be quite good, the width could cause some discomfort!

[Sam Drucker]

The 777 fuselage cross section is not quite as big as a 747. These 777 aircraft generally started out as a 9-across seating arrangement in economy; either 3-3-3 or 2-5-2. To jam a 10th seat in there (3-4-3) indicates to me a carrier that has no regard for passenger comfort, and is counting on passenger ignorance about the carrier's product to compete in the marketplace. In an era where people all over the world are getting bigger, not smaller, it defies logic to move in this direction.

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[AdmiralNelson]

Air india should be listed as one of the best 33 34 35" pitch in economy depending on aircraft...........

[sierra01]

I flew Cebu Pacific on the Bangkok-Manila-Cebu route and return last year, I'm 1.8M tall and I had to sit with my legs to one side, no way could I have sat normally. Its the worst legroom Ive ever had and on a just over 3 hour flight (Bangkok-Manila) I couldnt wait to get off.

Edited November 3, 2012 by sierra01

[noob7]

Pitch isn't the only factor. The depth of the seat back is also important. If the seat back is thin, the seat pitch can be less than a seat with a larger pitch and have as much room.

Yes I think this could possibly be a reason for the reduced pitch on the Thai A380, the new gen of planes are all getting pretty thin seats, would think the 787 would be the same, if your sitting further back into the seat then your arse and naturally the legs connected to it would be further back making up that lost space in front. Could be wrong be seems logical.

You better look at it, from the other side: The backrest frame in front of you is thinner, now. Even in closer distance, it's still the same space between the front of your seat surface, and the backrest frame in front of you!

Edited November 3, 2012 by noob7

[krisb]

youtube has all the info on legroom on planes. best/worst seats. Its a matter of knowing which seat to ask for at checkin.

easy.

[SCOTTIEDAM]

I like the leg room in the business class section, you can lay the seat completely flat and sleep any time on the bigger planes and you have at least 45" of legroom on the short hops from Toyko and Hong Kong. i'm speaking of Cathay Pacific airlines.

Edited November 4, 2012 by SCOTTIEDAM

[easton]

I am not sure what the seat pitch was, but the Asiana flight I just had out of Chicago going to Seoul had ample leg room. It was on an older B777-200 that needed a serious IFE upgrade.

[steve187]

i have put together a list of seat pitch for different airlines. i have included all 10 above and most that fly to bkk. information taken from seat guru

[steve187]

i have put together a list of seat pitch for different airlines. i have included all 10 above and most that fly to bkk. information taken from seat guru

airline seat info.docx

[bumpkin]

It's not only leg room which is inadequte on some planes, but seatback height is frequently too low for some passengers.

It it safe for the head rest to reach only to shoulder or neck height?

In a seat with inadequate leg room, this is a torturous combination.

A persons back length is one of the variables in this calculation.

In most populations, each generation is getting taller.

Many airlines will continue to operate at the barest minimum until passengers take action.

And the only action that the guilty airlines will take notice of is a sufficient number of passengers changing their allegiance.

[Sam Drucker]

Agree with you Bumpkin.

There's talk of thinner seats to justify the smaller seat pitches. But I just can't imagine (in the overall scheme of things) that it would make that much difference as far as feeling cramped and crowded goes. A thin seat does sound less comfortable/less cushioned though. I have to believe the "thinner seats justify smaller seat pitches" argument was totally an airline-concocted deflection.

I'm only 5'8" (172 cm), and usually I don't have issues with knees hitting the seat in front. But what goes along with tight seat pitches is the seat back in front being so close I can't comfortably hold a magazine or newspaper to read. It's worse when they recline.

Terribly uncomfortable and claustrophobic.

Yes, I agree. The only thing we (as consumers) can do is due diligence before buying a ticket as to what service we will get, and for those airlines that don't measure up, vote with your feet!

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