Getting ample legroom is key to a comfortable flight, and becomes increasingly important the longer you’re stuck on the plane. Sadly, flights can be some of the worst for space, with legroom at a premium.
There’s always the option of booking seats with extra legroom or emergency exit spots. But there are also ways for you to snap up the perfect seats without spending extra.
The main thing to do is to look at what plane you’re getting on before even booking. Most airlines share what type of plane they’re using in the flight details. From this, you can look at the specifications of each plane and its seating map on the provider’s website.
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A bigger plane will mean bigger leg space. To work out what plane is bigger, you look at the flight information and then the plane’s specs.
What you should note is the seat pitch. This is the space between a chair and the one in front, i.e. the legroom. Hence why a a bigger plane will mean bigger leg space. A good seat pitch is thought to be between 30 and 31 inches (76 to 78cm).
For example, the most common plane on EasyJet routes is the Airbus A320CEO, of which they have 168 of in their fleet – that’s more than half their planes. This model of planes’ seat pitch changes by row: two to 11 have a 29-inch seat pitch, rows 12 to 13 a 35-inch seat pitch (the emergency exit seats), and rows 14 to 31 a 29-inch seat pitch.
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Meanwhile, Ryanair mostly uses the Boeing 737-800, where the seat pitch in economy is 30 inches. With British Airways, two planes make up over a third of the fleet: the Airbus A320-200 and the Boeing 777-200.
The seat pitch for the Airbus A320-200 ranges from 30 to 34 inches depending on the layout, whereas for the Boeing 777-200, if you sit in economy, there is a seat pitch of 31 inches. If free legroom is vital to you, you may want to skip EasyJet for Ryanair or the even more spacious British Airways.
You can book your next flight through JetBlue, FinnAir, British Airways and KLM or accommodation via Booking.com.
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