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I have a 10+ hours trip in an Airbus A380-800, and I noticed the seat 60A was available at check-in time. The layout of the plane looks like this:

enter image description here

I took this seat, based on the natural idea that it provides extra legroom. However, I've searched over the internet (e.g. here, here and here) and there seems to be no precise information about this. People mostly complain about the closeness to the kitchen and the slightly reduced width, but no proper mention to the legroom.

Does anybody have experience with this seat? Is it worth it for its legroom? Also, I have 60A, which is a window seat. Does it have enough frontal space as to stand up and get to the hallway without disturbing others?

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    I think this partly depends on how the airline has configured the plane. Who are you flying with? Although the diagram allows an answer to the question, the extra information will help others who are searching.
    – user16259
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 8:44
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    Which airline is this?
    – gparyani
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 9:02
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    @DumbCoder Cabin layout is up to the airline so your experience on an Emirates flight is unlikely to be of any relevance.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 17:18
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    @DumbCoder No, as I said, the layout of the passenger cabin is determined by the airline. Different airlines want the seats in different places, because they provide different facilities for their passengers.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 17:32
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    IF you are courteous, and IF you pay attention to what's going on around you, there's always more legroom in an aisle seat than a window seat because you can stretch (at least one leg) out into the aisle. NOTE: Do NOT put your legs out there then (attempt to) go to sleep. You will get kicked, tripped over and asked to move by the flight attendants. If, however, you need to stretch for a minute or two and are conscientious about moving rapidly when someone approaches (front or rear), you can get away with it and it's quite nice.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 17:41

6 Answers 6

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Assuming that the image represents the flight in question I would not choose this seat for extra legroom, the reason being that there is a wall directly in front of your seat. That means, because there is no seat in front of you, that:

  • You cannot stretch out with your feet under the (non-existent) seat in front of you (thus actually limiting your legroom).
  • There will be limited (if any) pockets on the wall so you will not have much room for personal items.
  • Because there is no seat ahead of you all of your hand luggage will have to be stowed in an overhead bin (thus limiting access during the flight).
  • Your tray table will fold out from the armrest, and will be smaller, less stable and more awkward to use than one that folds down from the back of another seat.

The above is from my personal experience of flights where I have ended up in a seat with a wall in front of me. I have vowed to never again voluntarily choose such seats in the future.

And finally, it's still basically a window seat, so you will always have to disturb people to get out to the aisle.

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    "Because there is no seat ahead of you all of your hand luggage will have to be stowed in an overhead bin (thus limiting access during the flight)." --> . only during takeoff and landing.
    – user67108
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 12:57
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    @dda True .. but there is generally room for only either your luggage or your feet and not really both at the same time :D
    – Peter M
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 13:09
  • Thanks for sharing your experience! I think the problem with the personal items is actually not so bad, as I'm just carrying a small backpack. On the other hand, the fact that there is no room to stretch my feet definitely makes me want to avoid this seat, let alone the fact that I usually stand up a lot from my seat, and I chose this seat thinking I could get the best of both worlds (window + availability to get out to the aisle). I will definitely ask for a change at the airport. Thanks!
    – Daniel
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 14:51
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    In all the cabins I've seen on long haul flights, there's been more legroom on this kind of seat, not less. I've never seen one as you describe, where the wall is as close as the seat back of the row in front would be. The other disadvantages you list do match what I've seen, except for the window seat part since there's always been enough legroom to just walk around the person in the window seat. Indeed, note that the seating diagram shows considerable space in front of the seats.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 17:21
  • Depending on airline/aircraft the entertainment system will also fold out of the armrests. However in a lot of cases these places are the only ones where you can mount a baby bed to the wall
    – PlasmaHH
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 18:38
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There are usually two possible situations for first-row seats:

  • There’s a lot of empty space right in front of you. This is usually (but not always) the case when you are right next to a door (looks like seats in row 75 and window seats in 76 are like this). In that situation, you do have lots of extra leg room, but you don’t have anything you can lie your feet against, so it’s not necessarily very comfortable, depending on your habits. Note that on some planes, the door bulges at floor level, which may restrict legroom for window seats (this is probably part of the reasons there are no window seats in row 75).

  • There’s a partition in front of you. This seems to be the case here. In this situation, you usually have more space at knee level, but not necessarily at foot level (on a regular seat you would have your feet under the seat in front of you).

To know if it’s actually better you would need at least a picture to judge, ideally with one of a regular row for comparison). It also depends on your height and the size of your feet :-)

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  • Thanks a lot for the info. I don't have an image to judge, unfortunately. The info you have provided helps a lot though. I like stretching my feet a lot, so this is not definitely something I would enjoy.
    – Daniel
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 14:39
  • I experienced the first case on a BA A380. The aisle seat was great, but because there was a door, the window seat didn't really get a window, and the door stuck out enough to be awkward.
    – David Ehrmann
    Commented Mar 25, 2018 at 5:38
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Ok, I'm right now at the plane, I couldn't change my seat and had to stay in row 60. To summarize (with respect to the questions I had initially):

no leg stretching, and still need to disturb everyone to get to the aisle (but at least they don't need to stand up as well but just move their feet)

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    Could you get a photo?
    – Paŭlo Ebermann
    Commented Mar 24, 2018 at 11:27
  • @PaŭloEbermann Right when I saw your comment, I was already at the exit. It was impossible to go back and get the picture.
    – Daniel
    Commented Mar 25, 2018 at 2:05
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We have sat in the exact seats, and there was plenty of leg room. We have a service dog and we all love it. In fact in a strange coincidence we just booked these seats yesterday — they are called preferred 💺 seating now at a cost of $45.00 for each seat (which they just started last month). So for the additional cost I think it is worth it. (I wish there was only 2 seats instead of three but sometimes that third seat is empty so lots of extra room.) Also on the bottom off the wall there is a large pocket for your feet so I would go for it but once again this is only our opinion.

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For LH A380, go for upper deck economy, they are the best. Small Econ Cabin, 242layout with 6rows, it is quiet and you get your meals serviced quickly. Window seats also a small storage room next to the wall. And upper deck is less noisy with the engine sound too.

Beware that on the upper deck behind business on some airlines (such as Thai Airlines,), you cannot walk around and cannot go downstairs, and thus are are trapped in a tiny area. The ceiling is also lower.

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I flew on Lufthansa last week same model aircraft. I try to choose an aisle seat whenever I fly so I can at least stretch my legs in the aisle. Seat 60A, you will be wedged against the window, I would have chosen the aisle seat. There is a wall and your food tray will be located in the armrest. Your entertainment console won't be easily viewable as if you took one of the seats behind you it would be in the headrest in front of you.

That jet also has seats available in the upper deck.

Your best bet is to choose a seat in the center on the aisle and check to see if anybody selects a seat next to you. I had an entire row to myself on my flight because it was pretty empty. That helps to stretch out a little.

Good luck.

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