Passengers seeking more flight legroom should opt for a budget airline.
An investigation into seat size and legroom on long-haul flights found budget airlines are more generous and cheaper than traditional carriers.
Research by consumer website Which? Travel discovered that passengers searching for bigger seats with more legroom might be better off paying for upgrades on WOW or Norwegian Air, rather than forking out for full price fares on flag carriers like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
It found direct fares to San Francisco for as little as £175 with Norwegian Air.
An investigation into seat size and legroom on long-haul flights found budget airlines are more generous and cheaper than traditional carriers
The low-cost carrier offers a 31 to 32-inch seat pitch on these flights – the distance from a headrest to the one in front and the best indicator of legroom – which, depending on where you sit, is already a more generous than Virgin’s standard 31 on the same route.
However, taller passengers can opt for one of Norwegian’s bulkhead or exit row seats with up to 38 inches of legroom.
The budget airline charges a flat fee of £25 for seat selection on long-haul flights, regardless of seat size. That is compared with Virgin’s closest equivalent ‘Economy Delight’ which costs an extra £50 for 34 inches.
Icelandic low-cost airline WOW Air sells fares to New York JFK via Reykjavik from £220. Standard economy seats are a bit tighter at 29-31 inches, compared with a standard 31 on BA.
But an upgrade to WOW’s XL seats, offering 32-33 inches of legroom, costs an extra £47. And XXL seats, with a cavernous 35-37 inches, are an additional £61.
Which? Travel said: ‘It’s not a bad little investment given that BA’s extra legroom starts at £50, and fares are usually higher than those from WOW Air.’
Researchers said there are fewer options to upgrade on short-haul, but passengers should not assume the budget carriers have the smallest seats.
While both Tui and Thomas Cook airlines have a knee-crushing seat pitch of just 28 inches, it’s a different story with Ryanair.
The budget carrier offers the same legroom as BA on many routes, although seat width with Ryanair is a snug 17 inches.
The research said both Ryanair and Easyjet have scrapped reclining seats as part of a fare-slashing exercise and BA is also set to join them later this year on some European routes.
Currently, there is no law detailing the minimum dimensions of a plane seat. Instead, a maximum passenger load is stipulated for each aircraft, based on whether it can be fully evacuated within 90 seconds –even if half of its exits are disabled.