Best Airlines for Long-Haul Flights in Economy

Best Airline to Asia

China Southern Airlines' A380 is a surprise winner for best long-haul flight to Asia—and best long-haul flight overall. (China Southern's A330 also scores very high.) At 35 to 37 inches, its seat pitch is the most generous without an extra cost on any long-haul plane, and A380 seats are an inch or so wider than on most competitive planes. A Skytrax score of four stars indicates an above-average economy product.

Extras: Audio/video at all seats.

Downside: China Southern's North American gateways are limited to just three: Chicago, Los Angeles, and Vancouver. Service to other points in North America is through SkyTeam partner line Delta.

Second-Best Airline to Asia

Korean Air scores well for its long-haul planes. The best is the A380, with a 34-inch pitch and good seat width, but Korean's 777, with nine-across seating, comes close with a 33–34-inch pitch and above-average width. Korean's A330 is also good, but it is being phased out. A Skytrax four-star economy rating indicates an above-average economy product. Korean serves a dozen North American cities, most major Asian cities, and partners with Delta and other lines in the SkyTeam alliance.

Extras: Audio/video and USB port at all A380 seats; 110V outlet at some seats. Audio/video at all 777 seats; 110V outlet at half the seats.

Also Good to Asia: Five Other Lines

The "also good" category includes five lines with above-average economy cabins. Your choice among them probably depends on their primary Asian destinations.

Once Boeing solves problems with the 787—and it will—ANA's 787 will be among the top choices to Asia, with a 33–34-inch pitch, the preferred eight-across seat layout, and lots of cabin advances.

The two big lines, Air China (A330-200) at a 34-inch pitch and EVA Airways (777-300ER and A330) at a 33-inch pitch, are also good bets. Both earn four-star Skytrax rankings.

Singapore Airlines' A380, at a 32-inch pitch, is good, too. What appear to be the best economy seats are on the model SeatGuru calls "Version 1," with 64 seats in a two-four-two arrangement in the rear of the upper deck, in which half of the seats are in pairs with no middles.

Air India's 777-200LR is at a 34-inch pitch and its 777-300ER is at 33 inches, both competitive with its Asian rivals but with a below-average Skytrax economy score of three stars.

Best Airline To The Middle East

Emirates' A380, at a 32–34-inch pitch and decent width, scores highest to the Middle East. Emirates' real focus, however, is on its ultraluxury business and first-class offerings, and so the Skytrax economy rating of three out of 12 stars is a tad below most competition. Avoid Emirates' 777, which uses the very narrow 10-across seats instead of the current—but slowly disappearing—standard of nine across. Emirates flies to five North American gateways; although it doesn't belong to any alliance, it has forged code-sharing agreements with JetBlue.

Extras: Audio/video and USB port at each seat; 110V outlet at some seats; onboard Wi-Fi Internet for a fee.

Also Good to the Middle East: Royal Jordanian Airlines' A340, at a 33-inch pitch.

Best Airline to Europe

Transatlantic standards are generally well below transpacific. The best we found is Turkish Airlines' A330 and A340, at 33-inch pitches. Turkish flies to Chicago, Houston, New York, and Washington, D.C., and it belongs to the Star Alliance, which serves other North American points through partners United, US Airways, and Air Canada. Although many aren't sure that Turkish should really be considered "European," Skytrax named it as Europe's best airline last year.

Extras: Audio/video at each A330-200 and A340 seat; 110V outlet at each A330-300 seat.

Best Airline to Western Europe

Here, the A380 generally outscores competitive planes, and the best of the lot is on Air France, at a 32-inch pitch. The best A380 seats appear to be in the rear rows of the small 30-seat cabin on the upper deck, where they're arranged in a two-four-two pattern that provides 10 seats in pairs—a big plus. Other seats in this cabin require a surcharge. Otherwise, seats are at the norm, with a three-four-three configuration on the main deck. As with Emirates, Air France is more interested in its business and first-class product than in economy, with a Skytrax rating of three stars for economy class. Air France flies to more than a dozen North American cities and partners in the SkyTeam alliance with Delta.

Extras: Audio/video at each seat.

Best Airline To Latin America

Another surprise winner is Aeromexico, with a 34-inch pitch in the 777-200. Aeromexico offers one-stop service to lots of Latin American destinations by way of Mexico City, but the only 777 flight to southern South America is to Sao Paulo. Other flights use the 767 at a 32-inch pitch. And the Skytrax three-star score is below average.

Extras: Audio/video at each 777 seat.

Also Good to Latin America: For other trips, your best bets are TAM's 777, A330, and A340, each with a 32-inch pitch, and LAN Airlines' A340 and 767, each with a 32-inch pitch. Unfortunately, LAN's new 787 uses ultratight nine-across seating.

Best Airline to Africa

There's not much competition up against South African Airways' A340-300 and 340-600, with 33–34-inch pitches. SAA's North American gateways are New York and Washington, with partner service on Star Alliance members United and Air Canada. The Skytrax score is an above-average four stars.

Extras: Audio/video at each seat.

Also Good to Africa: There isn't much service to other African points. Royal Air Maroc flies from New York to Casablanca and EgyptAir flies from New York to Cairo, but no airplane details on either line are posted and available.

Best Airline To The South Pacific

No line to the South Pacific met our minimum criteria. Your best bet is Virgin Australia's 777, at a 32-inch pitch, from Los Angeles. Virgin Australia partners with Alaska, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, and US Airways for domestic connections.

Extras: Audio/video at each seat.

Also Good to the South Pacific: Consider Air New Zealand's 777-200, at a 31–33-inch pitch with nine seats across, but avoid that line's 777-300, with ultratight 10-across seats.

What About North American Lines?

It probably hasn't escaped your attention that the only "best" line based in North America is Aeromexico, with very limited service in those "best" planes. American Airlines' 777-200 is among the better ones that didn't meet our minimum standards, at a 31–32-inch pitch and with the preferred nine-across arrangement in a two-five-two configuration (rather than the more common three-three-three)—still wider than most. But steer clear of its newer 777-300, with tight 10-across seats. And don't be surprised if American downgrades the 777-200 soon.

Also good—and similar—is Air Canada's 777, but trade press reports indicate the current nine-across seats will be downgraded to 10.

What's Coming in Comfort

We can see some changes coming along soon. Now that over-ocean service is available, major intercontinental airlines are rapidly adding in-flight Wi-Fi Internet. Some of the planes we list may already have some installations. And the several airlines that have tried those fixed-back, slide-forward economy seats report almost universal unpopularity among travelers, so you can expect some lines to retrofit more conventional seats.

On the downside, look for more airlines to follow the unfortunate trend of downgrading the 777 from relatively comfortable nine-across seating to cramped 10-across seating. More and more, the only way to assure a reasonably comfortable seat is to spring for premium economy, which can boost your costs quite a bit.

You Might Also Like:

• Best Airlines for Extra Legroom in Premium Economy
• 10 Tricks to Make Coach Class Comfier
• Worst Economy Seats in the Air