Qantas will be the newest operator of the popular Airbus A220 when the first aircraft is delivered later this year. In advance of the aircraft’s entry into the service, the seat map has been published and it features unexpected extra legroom seats.
The Australian airline has firm orders for 29 examples of the Canadian jet, using them to replace their Boeing 717 fleet. Curiously both of these types started out with other names. The Boeing 717 was originally the McDonnell Douglas MD-95 and the Airbus A220 was the Bombardier CSeries.
Extra Legroom Seats
Nothing has been announced about these extra legroom seats. However, Qantas publishes the layout of passenger accommodations (LOPA) or the seat maps to scale. The one for the new Airbus A220-300 is very revealing.
The aircraft will be configured with 10 seats in business class and 127 in economy. Nothing too unusual there, however when you look at the actual plan you can see not all seats have been created the same.
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- Notice anything unusual?
Economy class runs from row four onwards, but eagle eyed readers might notice something going on with the A and C seats at the front. Row four, five, six, seven, eight and nine feature extra room. The seats are offset forward of their counterparts across the aisle, even though there are the same number of rows.
These seats are sure to be the most coveted ones by regular passengers when the plane enters service. It seems there is almost the same amount of space as the exit row!
Overall Thoughts
Qantas frequent flyers are going to love these extra legroom seats. More space between the seat in front of you and your face really adds to the comfort of a flight.
Australian people tend to be fairly tall, so it should be a godsend for those with long legs. For those short people like me, we’ll just enjoy the luxurious spaciousness as well. You can find the entire Qantas A220-300 seating plan as a PDF here.
Are you looking forward to flying on the Airbus A220-300? I flew on it with SWISS and had one of my most memorable flights ever. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via Qantas.
That staggered row thing is something Finnair does on some of their long-haul jets.
I loved it. My wife is 5′, my kid is shorter (grade schooler) and they sat across the aisle from me in plain old economy seats; I sat in the aisle seat of the center section, which are premium econ with added leg room. We were able to all be together but the 6′ tall guy got sufficient leg room!
I can imagine how comfortable that was compared to how it could have been. It makes a huge difference!
The pitch on QF’s 717 feels really tight. I suspect it is in part the older, thicker seat backs (which manage not to feel better padded than newer full function seats that are thinner).
Hopefully the 220 will improve comfort throughout the cabin.
One would hope so – if they’re the same seats as on SWISS, they will be pretty fine. I will be interested to see the cabin. Shouldn’t be too long now!
I have flown this type on Delta Airlines four or five times and it is a great experience. I love the five across seating. Also, at least on the Delta version, like on the A330, one of the toilets has a window that looks outside!!
Same, I think the five across seating is very nice. Hopefully the Qantas one also has a window in the toilet – that’s always a fun surprise when you come across it. I’m sure the plane will be seen more and more as time goes on, as there are plenty of orders for it!