Airlines with most legroom
2012-11-02 11:35
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Check out the top ten airlines by space passengers get when they fly economy class, according to an annual Business Traveller survey.
London - A recent survey conducted by Business Traveller magazine and its sister website Seatplans.com has revealed the low-down on legroom and seat-width of 32 of the world's leading airlines.
The Daily Mail reports that Ryanair came bottom of the study for seat width, with a miserly 16 inches (about 40cm). Its rival easyJet fared much better, however, with its seat width of 17.5 inches giving it sixth spot.
However, when it came to legroom - defined as the distance between the back of one chair to the back of the one in front - Ryanair's 30 inches (76,2cm) beat easyJet's 29 inches (73cm), and won it the 24th position.
Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines were rated joint top for legroom, with 32 inches (81,28cm), while Emirates was top for seat width, with a minimum of 18 inches (45,72cm) and a maximum of 20.5 (50,8cm) inches.
British Airways was in eighth for width - 17.3 inches (44cm) minimum and 18.1 maximum (46cm) - but only 21st for legroom - 30 to 31 inches (76,2cm to 78cm).
Virgin Atlantic did better on both counts, with width of 17.5 inches (44,45cm) and legroom from 31 to 32 inches (76,2cm to 81cm).
British Airways' sister airline Iberia finished bottom for legroom with a minimum of just 28 inches (71,12cm) on its Airbus A319s and A320s.
The top 15 airlines for legroom are as follows:
Cathay Pacific: 32 inches (81,28cm)
Singapore Airlines: 32 inches (81,28cm)
ANA: 31 - 38 inches (78cm - 96cm)
Korean Air: 31 - 35 inches (78cm - 90cm)
Etihad: 31 - 35 inches (78cm - 90cm)
Thai Airways: 31 - 34 inches (78cm - 86cm)
Japan Airlines: 31 - 34 inches (78cm - 86cm)
Emirates: 31 - 34 inches (78cm - 86cm)
American Airlines: 31 - 33 inches (78cm - 83.82cm)
Kenya Airways: 31 - 32 inches (78cm - 81,82cm)
United: 31 - 32 inches (78cm - 81,82cm)
Virgin Atlantic: 31 - 32 inches (78cm - 81,82cm)
KLM: 31 inches (78cm)
Qatar: 30 - 36 inches (76,2cm - 91,44cm)
ANZ: 30 - 35 inches (76,2cm - 89cm)
The magazine collated and checked more than 8,000 individual items of data from 32 airlines who are given the opportunity to double-check, update and verify the figures before publication.
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