Seat Pitch and Legroom
Seat pitch is the distance from any point on one seat to the exact same point on the seat in front or behind it. While it is not the same as legroom, it does give you a very good approximation of how much seat room to expect.
Leg room is more accurately measured from the inside back of one seat, to the outside back of the seat in front (i.e. the space your leg occupies from hip to knee). This can range from a minimum of 26" on short haul flight, which is equivalent to a seat pitch of about 28".
The seat pitch is a significant factor in our comfort on a flight, as it largely determines the amount of legroom available to us. This is particularly significant on long haul flights, with its inherent risk of DVT.
Airlines usually quote the larger seat pitch measurement in their literature, and so for consistency reasons, this dimension has been used in the table below. This table shows the typical seat pitch offered by an airline on international flights; in general, planes used for long-haul flights tend to have a greater seat pitch than short flights. Where the seat pitch is given as a range, this indicates different types of aircraft in the fleet with slightly different seat pitch.
Do bear in mind however, that these measurements may not be available on all of an airline's fleet of aircraft, and in some cases, the proportions represent new installations that may not be available across the whole fleet of aircraft.
| Airline | Economy | Economy Plus | Business Class | First Class |
| Aer Lingus | 32" | 52" | ||
| Aegean Airlines | 32" | 33" | ||
| Aerolíneas Argentinas | 34" | 50" | 80" | |
| Aeromexico | 31" | 60" | ||
| Air 2000 | 29" | 34" | ||
| Air Algerie | 32" | 36" | ||
| Air Asia | 29" | |||
| Air Canada | 31-33" | 58" | ||
| Air Caraibes | 31" | 38" | ||
| Air China | 34" | 42" | 62" | |
| Air France | 31" | 48" | 82" | |
| Air India | 31-33" | 48" | 78" | |
| Air Jamaica | 33" | 40" | 84" | |
| Air Madrid | 32" | 47" | ||
| Air Malta | 30" | 32" | ||
| Air Mauritius | 33" | 43" | 73" | |
| Air New Zealand | 34" | 50" | 80" | |
| Air Pacific | 32" | 50" | ||
| Air Seychelles | 32" | 50" | ||
| Air Tahiti Nui | 32" | 55" | 80" | |
| Air Zimbabwe | 30" | 43" | ||
| Airtours | 29" | 34" | ||
| Alaska Airlines | 32" | 36" | ||
| Alitalia | 32" | 55" | ||
| Alliance Airlines | 34" | 42" | ||
| All Nippon Airways | 32" | 38" | 65" | 83" |
| Aloha Airlines | 32" | 38" | ||
| American Airlines | 33-35" | 60" | 89" | |
| Asiana Airlines | 34" | 50" | 83" | |
| A T A | 31-32" | |||
| Austrian Airlines | 32" | 57-59" | ||
| Avianca | 34" | 56" | ||
| Belair | 28-31" | 32-42" | ||
| British Airways | 31" | 38" | 73" | 78" |
| British Mediterranean | 31" | 38" | 50" | |
| British Midland | 32" | 60" | ||
| bmibaby | 29" | |||
| Britannia Airways | 28-30" | 35" | ||
| BWIA | 32-34" | 47-60" | ||
| Cathay Pacific | 31" | 60" | 79" | |
| China Airlines | 32" | 50" | 83" | |
| Continental Airlines | 31" | 55" | ||
| Cyprus Airways | 31-32" | 41-42" | ||
| Czech Airlines | 32" | 47" | ||
| Delta Air Lines | 32" | 60" | ||
| Dragonair | 31" | 50" | 82" | |
| easyJet | 29" | |||
| Egyptair | 33" | 48" | 62" | |
| El Al Israel Airlines | 32" | 55" | ||
| Emirates | 32-33" | 48" | 69" | |
| Ethiopian Airlines | 32" | 57" | ||
| EVA Air | 33" | 38" | 47-61" | 80" |
| Excel Airways | 30" | |||
| Finnair | 32" | 50" | ||
| flyBe | 31" | |||
| Garuda Indonesia | 33" | 42" | 54" | |
| GB Airways | 31" | 34" | ||
| Go | 29" | |||
| Gulf Air | 32-33" | 50" | 80" | |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 31" | 54" | ||
| Hellas Jet | 32" | 38" | ||
| Iberia | 32" | 50" | 83" | |
| Icelandair | 31" | 38" | ||
| Iran Air | 31" | 49" | ||
| Japan Airlines | 33" | 62" | 83" | |
| JAT Airways | 32" | 36" | ||
| Jet Airways | 31" | 38" | ||
| JetBlue Airways | 32" | |||
| Jetmagic | 32" | |||
| K L M | 31" | 60" | ||
| Kenya Airways | 32" | 76" | ||
| Korean Air | 33" | 50" | 83" | |
| Kuwait Airways | 32" | 45" | 61" | |
| Lauda Air | 31" | 50" | ||
| LOT Polish Airlines | 32" | 45" | ||
| LTU International | 30" | 42" | ||
| Lufthansa | 31" | 48" | 84" | |
| Luxair | 32" | 32" | ||
| Maersk Air | 31-32" | 33" | ||
| Mahan Air | 32" | 40" | ||
| Malev Hungarian | 32" | 40" | ||
| Malaysia Airlines | 34" | 58" | 80" | |
| Meridiana | 32" | 32" | ||
| Middle East Airlines | 32" | 42-48" | ||
| Midwest Airlines | 34" | |||
| Monarch Airlines | 29" | 34" | ||
| MyTravel Airways | 29" | 32-33" | ||
| MyTraveLite | 29" | |||
| National Airlines | 32-33" | 40" | ||
| Nationwide Airlines | 32" | 35" | 36" | |
| Northwest Airlines | 31" | 60" | ||
| Olympic Airways | 32" | 58" | ||
| Oman Air | 32" | 40" | ||
| Pakistan International Airlines | 32" | 60" | ||
| PGA Portugalia | 32" | 33" | ||
| Philippine Airlines | 32" | 45" | 82" | |
| Phuket Air | 31" | 60" | ||
| Qantas Airways | 31" | 50" | 78" | |
| Qatar Airways | 32" | 52" | 79" | |
| Royal Air Maroc | 32" | 36" | ||
| Royal Brunei | 32" | 57" | ||
| Royal Jordanian | 34" | 82" | ||
| Ryanair | 30" | |||
| SN Brussels Airlines | 31" | 62" | ||
| SAS Scandinavian | 32" | 37" | 50" | |
| Saudi Arabian | 34" | 45" | 64" | |
| SilkAir | 32" | 38" | ||
| Singapore Airlines | 32" | 58" | 78" | |
| Snowflake | 31" | |||
| Song | 33" | |||
| South African | 31-34" | 55-78" | 83" | |
| Southwest Airlines | 32-33" | |||
| Spanair | 31" | 45" | ||
| SriLankan Airlines | 32" | 48" | ||
| Swiss | 31" | 48" | 83" | |
| Tarom Romanian | 32" | 42" | ||
| TAP Air Portugal | 33" | 46" | ||
| Thai Airways | 34" | 50" | 80" | |
| Thomas Cook | 29-35" | 33-35" | ||
| Tunisair | 32" | 38" | ||
| Turkish Airlines | 32" | 54" | ||
| United Airlines | 31" | 35" | 55" | 88" |
| Universal Airlines | 32" | 52" | ||
US Airways |
31-34" | 53-94" | ||
| US Airways (domestic) |
31-33" | 37-38" | ||
| Varig Brazilian | 32" | 45" | 65" | |
| Vietnam Airlines | 33" | 52-59" | ||
| Virgin Atlantic | 31" | 38" | 55" | |
| Virgin Blue | 30" | |||
| Virgin Express | 30" | |||
| WestJet | 33-35" | |||
| Zoom | 31" | 36" |