Virgin Australia will offer economy class passengers more legroom, priority boarding and exclusive access to overhead locker space as part of its new Economy X service launching on domestic flights from May 2017.
Other perks will include premium check-in and noise-cancelling headphones, as well as a 'guaranteed first meal choice' on flights where a full meal is served.
Economy X pricing will start from $29 extra on short domestic flights such as Sydney-Melbourne and Sydney-Brisbane, with the price increasing as flights become longer.
Trans-Tasman flights as well as Melbourne-Perth will cost $49, with Sydney-Perth and Brisbane-Perth at $59, topping out at $149 between Australia and Los Angeles.
Velocity Platinum frequent flyers will be able to pre-select Economy X seats free of charge on domestic and trans-Tasman flights when making their booking or any time before check-in, along with any companions travelling on the same booking (providing it is available). There’s no word to whether Gold or Silver members will receive the seats for a discount or not.
Virgin will convert the first three rows of the economy cabin (rows 3-5) on all 57 of its Boeing 737-800 jets into an Economy X zone.with "a minimum of three inches (7.62cm) extra legroom" or 34 inches of pitch over the 31 inches of regular economy seats. Virgin expects most of its Boeing 737 fleet to be reconfigured for Economy X by the end of May.
Economy X will also be rolled out on Virgin's Airbus A330 jets, with eight seats in row 28; and on the international Boeing 777-300ER fleet, with 57 seats at rows 20-25, 26 and 39.
Regional ATR jets will have Economy X at row 1; Fokker 70s at row 11; and Fokker 100s and Embraeur 190s at row 12.
Economy X follows suit from it's partner domestic US carriers (Virgin America & Delta) where passengers also pay an additional fee to be seated at the front of the economy cabin for extra legroom, priority boarding and dedicated overhead luggage space (as well as being among the first passengers off the flight).
Economy X on the Boeing 737 (domestic aircraft's)
So what's the Economy X legroom really like? (Photos courtesy of Australian Business Traveller)
Economy X:
Regular Economy:
The new seats are on sale now - but will only available from the 21st of May 2017.
Picture's for the International Economy X are yet to be released.