The Norwegian airline is to introduce slimline seats, which will be narrower but offer extra legroom, on its intercontinental flights.
Flying long-haul with Norwegian Air could soon get a lot more comfortable, or not, depending on your body shape.
The airline claims the seating on its new Boeing 737 MAX aeroplanes will provide extra comfort for all fliers on longer routes, but not everyone is convinced.
The new cabin features 189 slimmer leather seats which measure 17.2″ wide, compared to an industry standard minimum of 18" according to industry figures. They do, however, offer extra legroom.
The new seats each weigh about 10kg, which is 1kg less than previous models. This should reduce the overall weight of an aircraft by around 200kg, which will lower fuel costs.
"More than 370,000 customers have flown Norwegian between the UK and Ireland and the US east coast and now thousands more passengers can fly in slimmer seats that provide more space for the longer flights", says Norwegian's Thomas Ramdahl.
Despite the positive spin from the company, Fabio Passalacqua, director of flight comparison site Jetcost, told iNews that the new seating will "divide customers", even though he believes it is a good move overall.
"On the one hand it's brilliant news for the taller passengers and those that often struggle with the lack of legroom: this new design means that they will no longer have to reserve a seat, often at extra cost, to ensure their comfort during the flight, thus saving them money and increasing their enjoyment of the flight at the same time," he says.
Legroom has always been a premium. But so has width. As a frequent traveler I get tired of having to pay for business or first class. I am not overweight.. but at 6'6″ and 265. Normal seats are far too small, and have gotten smaller every year for decades. Passengers will pay a little more to be comfortable. Take a hint from the history books. Midwest Express was one the most beloved carriers before it was bought out and turned into just another airline. If more airlines were like ME ridership would be up, cost would be down, and customer satisfaction up. A tall guy will not rent a compact car to drive cross country, but they will a full size. The little amount of fee increase is acceptable.
No one is one size fits all. You cannot discriminate against half your passengers.