Many headlines from the past couple of days have been about how air travel can turn very, very bad indeed, and we’ve learnt a couple of lessons from all of this: first, don’t fly United; and second, sometimes economy class tickets can subject you to very ridiculous treatment (admit it – Business/First class passengers would never be asked to de-plane, or rather, “re-accommodated”, in the case of an overbooked flight).
What we can be thankful for, however, is that here in Singapore we have access to quite a wide selection of quality airlines, plenty of which consistently occupy the top spots in airline rankings. They show that air travel doesn’t have to be that bad, even if you’re holding an economy class ticket, thanks to relatively comfortable seats and quality in-flight entertainment to make the long hours pass a little quicker.
Below, 5 of the airlines which have, in our humble opinion, the most comfortable economy class seats. We included measurements of the seat pitch, i.e. the distance between a point on a seat and the same point of the seat in front of it, and seat width, based on measurements from seatguru.com.
Singapore Airlines
Our national carrier usually comes up tops in most airline rankings – something we’re immensely proud of, and yes, we do truly believe that SQ is a great way to fly. The greatest plus points of flying economy on SQ has to be the in-flight entertainment system, which is updated monthly with some impressively new movie titles, to the point where we find ourselves actually catching up on recent releases on SQ flights, if we missed their runs in the cinemas. Power through a couple of movies and maybe five episodes of a TV show, and you’ll find that a 13-hour flight can pass somewhat painlessly.
In terms of legroom and seat width, it’s not the most spacious of the major airlines, but it’s generally acceptable. The cushioned seats, coupled with the pillow and blanket, are sufficiently comfortable to fall asleep on. Still, we’d prefer not to be caught in the middle of the 4-seat centre row as much as possible.
Seat pitch (Airbus A380): 32 inches
Seat width (Airbus A380): 17.5-18 inches
singaporeair.com
Emirates
Emirates’ advantage is having a relatively young fleet of exclusively Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft, so the planes always feel newer and more spacious – important especially on long-haul flights. On a flight from Singapore to the US with a stopover in Dubai, we flew economy class on both the Airbus and the Boeing, and the Airbus stood out for its wider cabin and seats, plus snazzier entertainment system (touch screens on the back of each seat!).
Speaking of the entertainment, Emirates’ “ice” system offers a decent selection of movies and TV shows, though the movie selection doesn’t seem to be as recent as the ones on Singapore Airlines’ KrisWorld.
Seat pitch (Airbus A380): 32-34 inches
Seat width (Airbus A380): 17-18 inches
emirates.com
Korean Air
The impressive legroom stood out the most when we flew on Korean Air from Singapore to Seoul (that, and the Korean meal options). For once, we felt like we actually didn’t have to annoy our seatmate that much each time nature came calling. And tall people will appreciate feeling less cramp-y in the legs.
What with the blue-and-white colour scheme of the airline, the cabin might feel a bit clinical, but the more-than-decent service helped balance that out. Entertainment-wise, it really can’t compare to the selection range of Singapore Airlines and Emirates, but the compact selection is sufficient to keep you engaged for a short-haul flight; load up your phone or tablet with Netflix downloads for anything above 10 hours, though.
Seat pitch (Airbus A380): 32-34 inches
Seat width (Airbus A380): 18 inches
koreanair.com
EVA Air
We’d fly with EVA Air just for a chance to travel in a Hello Kitty/Gudetama-themed plane, seriously. That aside, EVA Air is actually one of the top-ranked airlines, though it might be slightly more low-profile as compared to the big boys.
While the legroom isn’t the best, everything on the cabin is super-clean, and the service from the crew is very impressive indeed (it’s Taiwanese hospitality after all). An attentive cabin crew is especially important on the long-haul flights; plus you’ll find that EVA Air tickets for cross-continent trips tend to be cheaper. Highly recommended if you’re flying to the US.
Seat pitch (Boeing 777): 31-32 inches
Seat width (Boeing 777): 18.3 inches
evaair.com
Asiana Airlines
If legroom and seat width are the most important factors to you, Asiana Airlines’ economy class (or “Travel Class”, in their terms) has been a consistent top performer in airline rankings. Seats are pretty plush, especially important if you want to catch up on sleep during those red-eye flights.
The in-flight entertainment selection is compact, but has sufficient popular titles to keep most people entertained. But if you’re up-to-date with your movie-watching, we’ll suggest bringing along your own entertainment.
Seat pitch (Boeing 777): 33-34 inches
Seat width (Boeing 777): 18 inches
flyasiana.com
Main image: Singapore Airlines
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