I flew 11 hours in a narrow-body and didn't hate it

[Mattg]

Many airlines have started to use narrow-body aircraft on long-haul flights. For example, several airlines like TAP Air Portugal, Aer Lingus, JetBlue and SAS are now flying Airbus A321LRs on selected trans-Atlantic routes. Virgin Australia will also start using Boeing 737s on Cairns-Tokyo flights from next week.

There's also been a bit of chatter about where Qantas will fly its A321XLR planes, including possibly to Asia. Which begs the question... can a narrow-body be comfortable for a long-haul flight?

Well, yesterday I spent over 11 hours in an Airbus A321neo LR - admittedly in business class. The flight was absolutely fine.

I flew Air Astana from Almaty to London, with a refuelling stop in Aktau. (Nobody was allowed off the plane in Aktau, although a few more passengers joined.) The first leg was 3h 20m, the stop was 1h 20m and then the second leg was 6h 35m (total time on plane = 11 hours, 15 minutes).

Because Air Astana has configured these planes with longer flights in mind, I had a lie-flat bed in J.



I can't say how the experience would have been in Y, other than that I wandered down to the back of the plane towards the end of the flight and it seemed OK. The seats looked comfortable enough, there was a good IFE selection and the passengers didn't appear to be in distress.

The main downsides would be that (a) if there's a trolley blocking the aisle, it can be hard to reach the toilet in a narrow-body and (b) this might just be my imagination, but the flight did get a bit bumpy with turbulence at times - I wonder if being in a smaller plane makes this worse.

 

[Forg]

Are the aisle-blocking (toilets & stretching your legs) and the more jiggly ride the two things that people think are going to be worse long-haul with a narrow-body vs wide-body?

Or is there an impression that the best cabin you’d get with a narrow-body is something like the QF 738 international setup, which is pretty … let’s call it “Jetstar’y” … ? ‘Cos I think this article says that there are airlines willing to do proper long-haul cabins (which is of course no guarantee for all non-LCC’s).

 

[OZDUCK]

We did Doha - Helsinki in J on a QR A321 (AY had cancelled our Sin-Hel flight and put us on QR) on an about 7 hour flight. It was 2 x 2 with fully lie flat seats that were extremely comfortable and roomy. We were lucky to have almost perfect weather with no bumps or jiggles. As I recall, all meals were delivered by tray so there was no blocking of the aisle. Obviously Q Suites would have been better but there was really very little to complain about.

 

[JohnK]

I can just imagine 3+ hours down the back in a 174 seat 737 or A320 that is full. Awful.

I am toying with the idea of 5-6 hours with VA DPS-BNE as the price is right but just can't bring myself to book it. Just yet.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I can just imagine 3+ hours down the back in a 174 seat 737 or A320 that is full. Awful.

I am toying with the idea of 5-6 hours with VA DPS-BNE as the price is right but just can't bring myself to book it. Just yet.

I think it’s more psychological than anything else. Narrow bodies ‘feel’ cramped compared to twin aisles, but in reality there’s not really much difference in economy.

The only thing you need to do is plan toilet breaks so you aren’t caught out by carts in the aisle. Which is easier on longer flights than say a one-hour hop.

And on VA there’s not much service anyway!

 

[Mattg]

The only thing you need to do is plan toilet breaks so you aren’t caught out by carts in the aisle. Which is easier on longer flights than say a one-hour hop.

I do think that airlines can minimise this issue by limiting the amount of time carts are in the aisle and/or having toilets at various positions at the front, middle and rear of the cabin.

On my Air Astana flight, there were carts in the aisle for only very short periods of time as most of the meal service was delivered directly from the galley. There was just a drinks cart at the start of service and a dessert trolley at the end.

I do like the Bonza model where there are no trolleys at all. The crew just hand-deliver anything you order via the app. That may not work though if everyone is getting the same meal at the same time.

 

[Forg]

I can just imagine 3+ hours down the back in a 174 seat 737 or A320 that is full. Awful.

I don’t see much difference with a 3+3 setup on an A320 to a 4+12+4 setup on an A380 …

 

[OZDUCK]

I don’t see much difference with a 3+3 setup on an A320 to a 4+12+4 setup on an A380 …

I would hate to be in the middle seats of that middle row!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I don’t see much difference with a 3+3 setup on an A320 to a 4+12+4 setup on an A380 …

In terms of seat width and pitch… no. but it’s the sense of space that suffers. and less access to overhead bins I guess, meaning some legroom will be taken up by bags.

 

[Cessna 180]

I don't personally see some peoples fascination with a wide body over a narrow. Yes they feel bigger and more spacious, however economy is economy. Now I am very fortunate that all my long haul flying (of which there has not been much) has been in J. I am quite dreading the day if work offers me something overseas because obviously I will want to go, but not in Y.!

However plenty of ~ 4-5 hour in Y to Perth or NZ and yes, a 330 is more fun for some reason but the bloody tiny seat really seems the same on both. It should be against some kind of human rights convention to allow such tiny seat pitch.

Agree with the above about the trolleys. Have taken a few VA flights lately and they seriously fluff around for the whole flight with that trolley. They should be embarrassed.
At least QF just get it done.

 

[JohnK]

I think it’s more psychological than anything else. Narrow bodies ‘feel’ cramped compared to twin aisles, but in reality there’s not really much difference in economy.

The only thing you need to do is plan toilet breaks so you aren’t caught out by carts in the aisle. Which is easier on longer flights than say a one-hour hop.

And on VA there’s not much service anyway!

Narrow bodies feel extremely cramped.

Uncomfortable seats for 3+ hour flights.

Lack of IFE. Yes I know most bring their own but I prefer IFE to be provided. Also a Scoot SYD-SIN flight feels much longer than an SQ SYD-SIN.

 

[Mattg]

Narrow bodies feel extremely cramped.

Uncomfortable seats for 3+ hour flights.

Lack of IFE. Yes I know most bring their own but I prefer IFE to be provided.

It depends how the aircraft is configured. Using my Air Astana example, they use A320s with seats that are just as wide as A330 seats and have decent legroom. There's also IFE and full meals & drinks are provided, as well as pillows and blankets. I'm not sure if Air Astana still provides amenity kits in Y, but I previously got one on a 4-hour Y flight with them.

With this being the case, it's possibly no worse than being on a 787 (or even better as the seats are a bit wider).

Also a Scoot SYD-SIN flight feels much longer than an SQ SYD-SIN.

Scoot flies a wide-body on SYD-SIN, so that's not an issue of it being a narrow-body plane - it's that Scoot is a LCC.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Should have said in the title business class, a spare middle or business class makes all the difference.

 

[Forg]

In terms of seat width and pitch… no. but it’s the sense of space that suffers. and less access to overhead bins I guess, meaning some legroom will be taken up by bags.

I guess I’m always focusing on my physically-compromised seating position in Y, keeping my legs tensed to push myself back in the seat & stop the seat in front digging into the knees and holding the book or magazine at an uncomfortable angle to cope with the Recliner in front of me, so the ‘vibe’ (the ‘Mabo’?) of the non-physical situation never registers.

Quite a few wide-bodies have a few rows up the back where you can get two seats together rather than three, I guess narrow-bodies never have that as the taper starts after the last row … but I haven’t travelled frequently enough to know whether those seats are easy to book?

 

[Daver6]

I don't personally see some peoples fascination with a wide body over a narrow. Yes they feel bigger and more spacious, however economy is economy. Now I am very fortunate that all my long haul flying (of which there has not been much) has been in J. I am quite dreading the day if work offers me something overseas because obviously I will want to go, but not in Y.!

The difference is quite noticeable when you're in a window seat. Narrow bodies are noticeable more cramped due to the curvature of the aircraft and lack of head space. You can't stand up properly in a window seat on a narrow body but you can in a wide body.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I guess I’m always focusing on my physically-compromised seating position in Y, keeping my legs tensed to push myself back in the seat & stop the seat in front digging into the knees and holding the book or magazine at an uncomfortable angle to cope with the Recliner in front of me, so the ‘vibe’ (the ‘Mabo’?) of the non-physical situation never registers.

Quite a few wide-bodies have a few rows up the back where you can get two seats together rather than three, I guess narrow-bodies never have that as the taper starts after the last row … but I haven’t travelled frequently enough to know whether those seats are easy to book?

Seat pitch isn’t linked to aircraft type. You can have more legroom on a narrow-body that an wide one! But even then aircraft type and seat choice can make a big difference… dunno how they do it but BA’s E175 fleet have a pitch of just 30 inches, but feels like 33-34. Heaps of legroom!

 

[JohnK]

It depends how the aircraft is configured. Using my Air Astana example, they use A320s with seats that are just as wide as A330 seats and have decent legroom. There's also IFE and full meals & drinks are provided, as well as pillows and blankets. I'm not sure if Air Astana still provides amenity kits in Y, but I previously got one on a 4-hour Y flight with them.

With this being the case, it's possibly no worse than being on a 787 (or even better as the seats are a bit wider).



Scoot flies a wide-body on SYD-SIN, so that's not an issue of it being a narrow-body plane - it's that Scoot is a LCC.

For 737s/A320s to be comfortable for medium/long haul they need to be configured 5 across in economy.

Also the galley situation/exit row could be an issue. You need somewhere for people to stretch and spend 5-10 minutes at a time.

Need more toilets.

I can understand if it was premium configured 737s/A320s but can't see how that can work for economy.

I also used the example of Scoot and SQ as both can have the same aircraft but huge difference in service. And its not that there's always a choice as I can't exclude Scoot from SQ bookings so can have Scoot forced on me or huge surcharge to avoid Scoot.

 

[Quickstatus]

can a narrow-body be comfortable for a long-haul flight?

Of course they can

Are the aisle-blocking

I suggest the aisle blocking think is not as significant as it is made out to be.
It is just a matter of waiting a few minutes...

 

[Forg]

For 737s/A320s to be comfortable for medium/long haul they need to be configured 5 across in economy.

While I do agree with it, no long-haul Y offers this much space does it? I see slightly more knee-room in the Y seats of a QF A330 c/f a QF 737, but the width’s the same. 5 across would be a nice Premium Economy offering.

The difference is quite noticeable when you're in a window seat. Narrow bodies are noticeable more cramped due to the curvature of the aircraft and lack of head space. You can't stand up properly in a window seat on a narrow body but you can in a wide body.

You can’t stand up properly in front of any 737 or A320 Y seat, except in the aisle … when this thread came up, I was trying to remember whether the same was true in the 787’s & A330’s I’ve been in - but couldn’t recall! It’s not just head room either, with a domestic-spec Y pitch the headrest of the seat in front is partially over the top of the floor-space of your seat, so you have to lean over the seats as you clamber out …

Seated, though, I’ve never noticed any headroom or shoulder-room difference; only legroom. I think that’s partially pitch isn’t it (edit - yeah 330 has an extra 1” pitch, 787 an extra 2”, for QF)? Although it’s probably also seat design, every VA & QF & JQ narrow-body I’ve been in within the last few decades has seats from yesteryear and I’ll bet they chew up some of your knee room (so in reality that Dreamliner prolly has closer to 3” more knee-room than the 2:35pm SYD-MEL).

*double-edit*
How do I get into one of SeatGuru’s QF A380 Layout 2 Y seats, with the 46” pitch & 23” width?!?! That’d be worth paying QF prices for Y long-haul!!

 

[Daver6]

I suggest the aisle blocking think is not as significant as it is made out to be.
It is just a matter of waiting a few minutes...

That's really not accurate. I'm fortunate enough to usually snag row 4 on a the QF 737s. On transcon flights with a proper meal service I can be served my meal and finished it (say 15-20 minutes) while the trolleys are still in the aisle towards the back.

Now imagine a long haul flight where the trolley comes out first for drinks and then dinner. That scenario could easily mean no access to the rear toilets for a good hour. Can you imagine the outrage from the J pax as Y pax have no option but to use the forward toilet?