Air New Zealand ATR 72-600 Seat Map & Best Seats (2026)
✈️ Quick Verdict
Aircraft: ATR 72-600 · Fleet: 11 aircraft · Config: 68 seats, single cabin
Layout: 2-2 throughout (A B · C D). No middle seat anywhere on the aircraft
Version lottery: No — Air New Zealand operates one ATR 72 layout
Best seats: Rows 13 to 15, window side — behind the propellers and clear of the lavatory
Seats to avoid: Row 1 for storage, row 17 for the lavatory, 11A and 11D for the view
Entertainment: None recorded for this aircraft · WiFi: Not fitted
The cleanest cabin we have mapped
Most seat guides are a list of traps. This one is not. The Air New Zealand ATR 72-600 has no seat we would tell you to avoid outright, no exit-row recline restriction anywhere in the cabin, no windowless seat, and a uniform row spacing from front to back. Seventeen rows, 68 seats, and almost nothing to get wrong.
What it does have is a 2-2 layout, which means every seat on the aircraft is either a window or an aisle. On a regional turboprop doing Nelson or Napier that is the whole argument: two people travelling together get a private pair with no stranger in the row, on any row they choose.
Where the noise is
The one thing that separates a good seat from an ordinary one here is not legroom, it is the propellers. On an ATR 72 the engines are mounted on the wing above the forward cabin, and the propeller discs turn level with the windows in that section. Seats behind them are noticeably quieter, and seats level with them get both the noise and the strobing shadow on a sunny day.
If the flight matters, sit in the back half. Rows 12 to 16 are behind the propeller line, ahead of the rear lavatory, and away from the boarding door. That is the quietest part of this aircraft.
Air New Zealand boards the ATR 72 through the rear door on most stands. That reverses the usual advice: a seat at the front of the cabin is the last one on and the last one off, not the first.
Row 1 has the legroom and none of the storage
All four row 1 seats are drawn with extra legroom against the forward bulkhead. All four also lose their underseat storage, so anything you want during the flight has to go in the overhead bin, and all four carry the tray table in the armrest, which costs about an inch of usable seat width.
1B and 1C get a genuine bonus that the window seats do not: the bulkhead in front of them covers only about 55 per cent of the row, so both pick up real extra floor space on their open side. If you want row 1 at all, those are the two to take.
Best seats
- 13A, 14A and 15A, or the D-side equivalents — behind the propeller line, ahead of the rear lavatory, with windows that line up. The quietest window seats on the aircraft.
- Rows 12 to 16 on the aisle — the same quiet stretch, and in a 2-2 cabin an aisle seat has only one neighbour.
- 1B and 1C — if you want the front row and can do without underseat storage, these two have a half-width bulkhead and real extra floor space.
- Rows 2 to 4 — ahead of the propeller line rather than level with it, which makes them the quietest seats in the front half of the cabin.
Seats to avoid
- Row 17 — the last row, immediately ahead of the rear lavatory and the only galley on the aircraft. On a full flight this is where the queue forms.
- 11A and 11D — windows set behind the seat, so you lean back to see out. The only two compromised window seats in the cabin.
- Row 1, A and D — the legroom is real, but you lose underseat storage and about an inch of seat width, and unlike 1B and 1C you get no extra floor space in exchange.
- Rows 5 to 9 if noise bothers you — not bad seats, but this is the section level with the propellers.
Cabin features
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Seat layout | 2-2, A B · C D — no middle seat on the aircraft |
| Rows in use | 1 to 17, nothing skipped — 68 seats |
| Pitch | Uniform from row 1 to row 17, with extra room only at the row 1 bulkhead |
| Recline restrictions | None anywhere in the cabin |
| Windowless seats | None |
| Lavatories | One, at the rear behind row 17 |
| Entertainment | None recorded for this aircraft |
| WiFi | Not fitted |
Quick-pick summary
| Travelling as | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quiet priority | 13A to 15A, or 13D to 15D | Behind the propellers, ahead of the lavatory |
| Legroom priority | 1B or 1C | Half-width bulkhead and real extra floor space |
| Couple | Any A and B pair, or C and D | A 2-2 cabin means a private pair on every row |
| Window priority | Any A or D except 11 | Only two seats on the aircraft have a compromised view |
| Family of three | Rows 12 to 15, A B plus C or D | Two plus one is the only shape a 2-2 cabin allows |
| Fastest exit | Rows 15 to 17 when boarding is through the rear door | Which on this aircraft it usually is |
Comparable guides
- Cebu Pacific ATR 72-600 — the same aircraft with 78 seats and two rear-facing ones
- Air New Zealand A320 — the jet on the trunk routes
- Air New Zealand A321neo — domestic and international layouts
- QantasLink Dash 8-400 — the other regional turboprop in the region
- QantasLink Embraer 190 — a regional jet worth comparing
Frequently asked questions
Does the Air New Zealand ATR 72 have a middle seat?
No. The cabin is 2-2 from row 1 to row 17, so every seat is either a window or an aisle. For two people travelling together that means a private pair on any row.
Which are the quietest seats on an ATR 72?
The rows behind the propeller line, which on this aircraft means roughly rows 12 to 16. The engines sit on the wing above the forward cabin and the propeller discs turn level with the windows in that section, so the front half is the noisier half.
Are there any bad seats on the Air New Zealand ATR 72?
Very few. There is no windowless seat, no recline restriction anywhere, and the row spacing is uniform. The only rows worth steering around are row 17, immediately ahead of the lavatory and galley, and 11A and 11D, whose windows sit behind the seat.
Is row 1 the best row?
Not automatically. It has the extra legroom but no underseat storage and a narrower seat, because the tray table folds out of the armrest. 1B and 1C are the pick of the four, because the bulkhead in front of them covers only about half the row.
Does the ATR 72 have WiFi or entertainment?
No WiFi is fitted, and no entertainment system is recorded for this aircraft. Sectors are short enough that it rarely matters, but bring something to read.
Which door does the ATR 72 board through?
Usually the rear one. That is worth knowing because it inverts the usual seat logic: the back of the cabin is first on and first off, and a front-row seat means the longest walk in both directions.