Which airline has the best seats?

Plane seats are getting smaller. This won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s played armrest wars in cattle class, knees painfully wedged against the seat in front. 

As well as seats and legroom, aisle space is also shrinking, all in the name of cramming more people on to flights.

Back in the 1950s, you could expect a 40-inch seat pitch (the distance from your headrest to the one in front, and the best indicator of legroom). Compare that to the current 31 inches on British Airways and Virgin long-haul flights and the grazed knees suddenly make sense.

If you’re after extra legroom, you’ll need to pay a pretty penny for the privilege (£50 minimum with BA).

LONG HAUL
Airline	Seat pitch (inches)	Seat width (inches)	Overall seat comfort
Air Canada	31-35	17-18
American Airlines	31-37	16.2-18.5
BA	30-31	17-18
Emirates	32-34	17-18
Etihad	31-33	17.5
KLM	31-35	17.5
Singapore Airlines	32-34	17.5-19
Thomas Cook	29-31	17-18.2
Tui Airways	33	17-18
Virgin Atlantic	29-31	17.5-18

Using the table: Seat pitch The distance between two seat rows – an indicator of legroom. Data from SeatGuru. Seat width The distance between the armrests of a single seat. Data from SeatGuru. Seat comfort Rated out of five by Which? members in 2017.



 

SHORT HAUL
Airline	Seat pitch (inches)	Seat width (inches)	Overall seat comfort
BA	29-34	17-18
Easyjet	29	18
Jet2	29	17
Ryanair	30-34	17
Tui Airways	28-34	17.2-18

Using the table: Seat pitch The distance between two seat rows – an indicator of legroom. Data from SeatGuru. Seat width The distance between the armrests of a single seat. Data from SeatGuru. Seat comfort Rated out of five by Which? members in 2017.