British Airways has reduced the average legroom for economy passengers on several European short-haul routes by reconfiguring some of its Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft to fit more seats.
The reconfiguration adds two extra rows—an additional 12 seats—and decreases seat pitch by one inch, bringing economy legroom to 29 inches. That matches the seat pitch commonly offered by low-cost carrier easyJet and is one inch less than the space provided by Ryanair on its Boeing 737-800s. EasyJet operates A319 and A320 aircraft on many of its short-haul services.
A British Airways spokesperson explained the rationale: “We will be flying to more than 78 short-haul destinations this year, with fares starting as low as $47. From next year we’re making a small increase to the number of seats on our A320 and A321 fleet so we can keep fares low. Customers fly with us because we offer quality and value in all areas. We fly to and from main airports with good onward transport links at the times of day our customers want to travel.”
The seat changes are scheduled to take effect next year on short-haul services operating from London Gatwick (LGW) and Heathrow (LHR). This decision comes after British Airways moved away from offering complimentary food and drink on short-haul economy services, instead partnering with Marks & Spencer to make sandwiches and snacks available for purchase.
By increasing capacity on these aircraft, the airline aims to maintain competitive ticket prices while serving popular short-haul routes from major London airports. Passengers should expect slightly reduced personal space in economy cabins on the affected A320 and A321 flights, balanced by the airline’s focus on keeping fares low and operating convenient schedules from primary airports.