Aer Lingus A320neo Seat Selection Guide (2026)
✈️ Quick Verdict
Fleet: Six A320neos in a single 186-seat cabin, flying the same Dublin short-haul routes as the 26 older A320ceos.
Layout: 3-3 economy, rows 1 to 31, with row 1 sold as AerSpace.
Version lottery: Not within the neo fleet — all six are identical. The lottery is neo versus ceo: 186 seats against 174 in the same fuselage, which is two extra rows and about 3% less pitch on every standard row.
Best seats: Row 13 — extra legroom, full recline, all six seats clean. Then 12C and 12D. Then 5A, 5F, 8A, 8F, 23A, 23F, 26A and 26F for the window.
Seats to avoid: 31A and 31F have no window at all, do not recline, and sit against the rear lavatories and galley. Row 1 is the paid tier and the trap — see below.
IFE: No seatback screens; no entertainment system is documented for this cabin · Wi-Fi: Starlink, rollout in progress — and the A320ceo fleet has none at all.
Aer Lingus flies two A320s on the same network. Twenty-six A320ceos at 174 seats, and six A320neos at 186. Same routes, same fares, same cabin crew, twelve more seats. The difference is not visible on a booking page and it is not marginal: two of those twelve seats are a whole extra row at the back, and the other ten come out of the pitch in every standard row on the aircraft.
Row 1 is AerSpace, and it is the trap
Row 1 — all six seats, 1A to 1F — is sold as AerSpace, Aer Lingus's paid extra-legroom tier. It is a bulkhead row, so on a seat map it looks like the obvious answer. It is a single row, not a cabin, and the seat is the same seat as everywhere else in the aeroplane.
What you actually get with it on the neo:
- Extra legroom at the bulkhead — genuine, and the reason people buy it.
- No underseat storage. Everything you want in flight goes in the overhead bin or on your lap.
- The tray table and screen holder live in the armrest, which makes the seat itself narrower than a standard economy seat.
- 1A and 1B sit beside a lavatory — queuing traffic for the whole flight.
- 1C, 1D, 1E and 1F sit against the forward galley — noise and light through the service.
Take row 13 instead. It is the aft overwing exit row: extra legroom, full recline, underseat storage intact, and all six seats rate clean. On a two-hour flight it beats row 1 on every measure except boarding order — and on most Aer Lingus fares it costs less.
The exit rows: 11, 12 and 13 are three different deals
The neo has two overwing exits, after row 11 and after row 12. That produces three rows with three quite different offers, and only one of them is unambiguously good.
| Row | Extra legroom? | Reclines? | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | No | 11A, 11B, 11E, 11F: no. 11C, 11D: yes | Pays the exit's price, collects none of its benefit. Skip. |
| 12 | Yes | 12A, 12B, 12E, 12F: no. 12C, 12D: yes | Good in the two aisle seats, a compromise in the other four. |
| 13 | Yes | All six: yes | The best row on the aircraft. |
If you cannot get row 13, take 12C or 12D over 12A or 12F. The window in row 12 costs you the recline; the aisle does not.
neo or ceo: what actually changes
| A320ceo | A320neo | |
|---|---|---|
| Aircraft | 26 | 6 |
| Seats | 174 | 186 |
| Rows | 1–29 | 1–31 |
| Standard row spacing | Baseline | About 3% tighter |
| AerSpace | Row 1 | Row 1 |
| Exit rows | 12 and 13 | 12 and 13 |
| Best row | 13 | 13 |
| Windowless seats | None | 31A, 31F |
| Wi-Fi | None fitted | Starlink, rollout in progress |
| Seats rated poorly | 12 | 5 |
The neo is denser and, seat for seat, slightly tighter. It is also the better aeroplane to be on in two ways that matter more than an inch: it is the only Aer Lingus A320 with Wi-Fi, and its cabin has fewer genuinely bad seats — five against twelve on the ceo, because the ceo puts two whole rows against its rear lavatories, 28 and 29, where the neo puts only one, row 31.
The tell: look at the last row number on the seat map. Row 29 is the ceo. Row 31 is the neo. With 26 ceos against 6 neos you are far more likely to be on the older aircraft, but both fly the same routes and neither is identified on a booking page.
Best seats, row by row
- Row 13 — 13A to 13F. Extra legroom, full recline, nothing against them. The pick.
- 12C and 12D — the same legroom with the recline intact, where 12A, 12B, 12E and 12F lose it.
- 5A, 5F, 8A, 8F, 23A, 23F, 26A and 26F — eight window seats with a properly aligned view. If you want to see out, these are the ones.
- Row 2 — immediately behind AerSpace, ordinary pitch, near the front, and clear of both the galley and the lavatory.
Seats to avoid
- 31A and 31F — no window at all. They are also in the last row, so they do not recline, and 31A backs onto a lavatory door while 31F backs onto the galley.
- 31B, 31C and 31D — last row, no recline, lavatory door immediately behind.
- Row 30 — 30C, 30D, 30E and 30F sit against the rear galley.
- Row 11 — 11A, 11B, 11E and 11F cannot fully recline because the forward exit is behind them, and the row has no extra legroom to show for it. 11C and 11D are unaffected.
- 7A, 7F, 14A, 14F, 22A, 22F, 25A and 25F — the window sits behind the seat, so you lean back to see out. Not a bad seat, but not the view you booked.
- Row 1 if you are paying for it purely for legroom — see above.
Quick picks by traveller
| If you are… | Take |
|---|---|
| Prioritising legroom | Row 13, then 12C or 12D |
| Travelling alone | 13C or 13D |
| A couple | 13A+13B, or 8A+8B for the window |
| Wanting a view | 5A, 5F, 8A, 8F, 23A, 23F, 26A, 26F |
| Off the aircraft first | Row 2 — row 1 is AerSpace and compromised |
| A family of three | 13A–13C or 13D–13F |
| On the cheapest seat going | Anything from rows 14 to 29 — avoid 30 and 31 |
Frequently asked
Is AerSpace worth it on the A320neo?
For priority boarding, the front-of-aircraft position and the service, possibly. For legroom alone, no — row 13 gives you more usable space, keeps your underseat storage and your full seat width, and is not sitting between a lavatory and a galley.
How do I tell a neo from a ceo before I fly?
The last row. Aer Lingus's A320ceo cabin ends at row 29; the A320neo ends at row 31. That is visible on the seat map at the moment you choose a seat, which the aircraft sub-type is not.
Which seats have no window?
31A and 31F. Eight more — 7A, 7F, 14A, 14F, 22A, 22F, 25A and 25F — have a window that sits behind the seat rather than beside it.
Is there Wi-Fi?
Yes, Starlink, with the rollout still in progress across the six aircraft. It is the only Aer Lingus A320 with any Wi-Fi at all — the 26 A320ceos have none.
Are there seatback screens?
No seatback screens, and no entertainment system is documented for this cabin. Bring your own device.
Is the neo really tighter than the ceo?
Yes, slightly. Both are the same fuselage; the neo fits 31 rows where the ceo fits 29. On the cabin drawings the neo's standard rows sit about 3% closer together, and its cabin also runs further aft into what is galley space on the ceo. On a 90-minute flight to Manchester it is not much. On the four-hour hops to the Canaries it is noticeable.