Leg room on planes? Business Traveller Airline Survey results

With longish legs (36"), leg room is quite important to me when I travel by air. I do not mind for short flights ie: 1 or 2 hrs, but any longer, and I do struggle. Infact, it is not just me, it is the passenger infront who cannot recline their seats without having my two knees in their back as one "lovely" gentleman found out when he tried to recline his seat on a flight from London to Glasgow last month. (think he got out the wrong side of bed or had chewed a wasp, and when we both stood up at the end of the flight, he then believed me about my height!!)

Going on from a previous post about seat choice, and the prefered seat for most flyers, I am still trying to sit in seat 6A whenever I can. Recently I have flown with:

British Airways - seat 6a - plenty of leg room for me

Jet2 - seat 6a - would be very happy to fly round the world in that seat if we were just looking at the leg room side of things. Very spacious indeed. However, it was abit like a dentists chair and not overly comfy.

Fly Thomas Cook - seat 6a - the most uncomfortable so far. Really tight, but the flight time was the most important to me when choosing this carrier and I forgot to pay for extra leg room for the 4.5hr flight. A friend who is 6ft 10" was also travelling on the Thomas Cook flight, and he had paid for extra leg room, and he was quite happy with the results.

You can check out seat plans with the different airlines at www.seatplans.com

http://www.gocomics.com/closetohome/

 

The Business Traveller Airline Survey results released yesterday show:

How much legroom do you get in economy?

1 = Cathay Pacific 32”
1 = Singapore Airlines 32”
3 ANA 31”-38”
4 = Korean Air 31”-35”
4 = Etihad 31”-35”
6 = Thai Airways 31”-34”
6 = Japan Airlines 31”-34”
6 = Emirates 31”-34”
9 American Airlines 31”-33”
10 = Kenya Airways 31”-32”
10 = United 31”-32”
10 = Virgin Atlantic 31”-32”
13 KLM 31”
14 Qatar Airways 30”-36”
15 ANZ 30”-35”
16 = Air Canada 30”-34”
16 = Malaysia Airlines 30”-34”
16 = Oman Air 30”-34”
19 Delta Air Lines 30”-33”
20 Swiss 30”-32”
21 = British Airways 30”-31”
21 = Qantas 30”-31”
21 = Lufthansa 30”-31”
24 Ryanair 30”
25 Turkish Airlines 29”-34”
26 = Jet Airways 29”-33”
26 = Finnair 29”-33”
28 = TAM 29”-32”
28 = Air France 29”-32”
30 Air Berlin 29”-30”
31 Easyjet 29”
32 Iberia 28”-32”

How much width do you get in economy? (* this list has been amended - please see comment below)

1. AIR CANADA 18”-18.5
2. SINGAPORE AIRLINES 17.9”-18.6”
3. VIRGIN ATLANTIC 17.5”-19”
4. AIR FRANCE 17.5”-18.5”
5. EASYJET 17.5”
6. CATHAY PACIFIC 17.4”-18.5”
7. BRITISH AIRWAYS 17.3”-18.1”
8. SWISS 17.3”-18”
9. LUFTHANSA 17”-19.3”
10. ETIHAD AIRWAYS 17”-19”
11 = TAM 17”-19”
12 = FINNAIR 17”-19”
13 = EMIRATES 17”-18.5”
13 = AMERICAN AIRLINES 17”-18.5”
13 = JAPAN AIRLINES 17”-18.5”
13 = KENYA AIRWAYS 17”-18.5”
13 = OMAN AIR 17”-18.5”
18 = DELTA AIR LINES 17”-18”
18 = IBERIA 17”-18”
18 = QANTAS 17”-18”
18 = KLM 17”-18”
18 = KOREAN AIR 17”-18”
18 = MALAYSIA AIRLINES 17”-18”
18 = TURKISH AIRLINES 17”-18”
18 = UNITED 17”-18”
26. AIR BERLIN 16.8”-18”
27. ANA 16.5”-20”
28 = AIR NEW ZEALAND 16.5”-18”
29 = QATAR AIRWAYS 16.5”-18”
30. JET AIRWAYS 16.1”-19.3”
31. THAI AIRWAYS 16”-20.5”
32. RYANAIR 16”

Which airlines have premium economy class and how much legroom do you get?

1 Turkish Airlines 46”
2 = Japan Airlines 38”-42”
2 = Qantas 38”-42”
3 = Air France 38”
3 = ANA 38”
3 = British Airways 38”
3 = Cathay Pacific 38”
3 = Virgin Atlantic 38”
9. Air New Zealand 33”-42”

Which airlines have premium economy class and how much width do you get?

1 = Cathay Pacific 19.5”
1 = Qantas 19.5”
1 = Turkish Airlines 19.5”
4. Air New Zealand 19”-20”
5. Air France 19”
6. British Airways 18.5”
7. ANA 18”-19.3”
8. Japan Airlines 17.5”-21.2”
9. Virgin Atlantic 17.5”-21”

Which airlines have fully flat beds – with a recline of 180 degrees – in business class and how long are they? (On some or all aircraft)

1. Cathay Pacific 81”-82
2. Lufthansa 80.3”-81.5”
3 = Qantas 80”
3 = Finnair 80”
4. Virgin Atlantic 79.5”-87”
5. Air New Zealand 79.5”-81”
6. Swiss 79”
7. Oman Air 77.5”
8. Qatar Airways 76.5”-80”
9. Delta Air Lines 76”-81.5”
10 = Singapore Airlines 76”-78”
10 = United 76”-78”
12 = Turkish Airlines 75”
12 = Iberia 75”
14 = Korean Air 74”
14 = Japan Airlines 74”
15. Etihad Airways 73”-74”
16. British Airways 72”-78”
17. Malaysia Airlines 72”-76”
18. Emirates 70”-80”
19 = Jet Airways 63.5”
19 = Thai Airways 63.5”