Air Canada's brand new A220 is now flying. Passengers onboard will likely appreciate this little jet that could as the carrier is placing this aircraft on transborder transcontinental routes. For those of you flying on Air Canada's Airbus A220, here are the best seats onboard this shiny new bird.

The Air Canada Airbus A220

Air Canada is now flying its first Airbus A220-300. This aircraft is outfitted in a two-class configuration with 12 business class seats and 125 economy class seats. Business is in a 2-2 configuration while economy class is in a 2-3 configuration. Compared to other aircraft in the Canadian carrier's fleet, like the A320 family and 737 MAX, this aircraft has fewer middle seats in coach.

Air Canada
Fewer middle seats onboard the Airbus A220 are just one of the fantastic features on the A220. Photo: Air Canada

Business class goes from rows 1-3 on the A220. Meanwhile, economy class starts at row 12 and continues to row 36.

Air Canada seat map
The seat map of an Air Canada Airbus A220-300. Photo: Air Canada

Business class on Air Canada's A220

With just shy of 94 centimeters of pitch, or 37 inches, legroom is business class is pretty standard. And, while it is not a lie-flat, the 6 inches of recline (15.24 cm) and 21-inch seat width (52.07 cm) means passengers have some room to move around.

Air Canada AIrbus A220 Business Class
Business class passengers will have plenty of room to move around. Photo: Air Canada

With three rows in a 2-2 configuration, Air Canada chose for a little more intimate cabin. However, there are some seats to consider avoiding. 3C and 3D are in the last row of the business class cabin. However, there, the aisle shifts as economy is in a 2-2 configuration. This may mean some unfortunate hits from bags as passengers board the aircraft. However, inflight, disruptions should be pretty minimal.

The other consideration would be for passengers sitting in the first row. Due to the position of the bulkhead, passengers will not be able to store items on the floor of the aircraft during takeoff and landing.

Economy class

Seats in economy class come with 30 inches of pitch (76.2 cm), 19 inches in width (48.01 cm), and 3 inches of recline (7.62 cm). These seats are wider than those found on some widebodies such as Air Canada's Boeing 787 aircraft!

Economy class A220
Economy class is in a 2-3 configuration with 30-inches in seat pitch, 19-inches of width and 3 inches of recline. Photo: Air Canada

Air Canada designates the first row of economy, row 12, as preferred seating. In addition, rows 19 through 21 are also preferred seats. These preferred seats come with a few more inches of legroom. Row 19 is the emergency exit row over the wings.

Passengers can pay extra to reserve preferred seats. These can be selected either at the time of booking or else afterward when managing your reservation. However, with row 12 as a bulkhead, note that there is no floor storage in this row.

Row 12
Bulkhead seats in row 12 come with some extra legroom, however, no floor storage. Photo: Air Canada

There are some rows to avoid in economy class, however. The two economy class lavatories and economy class galley on this aircraft are at the rear of the aircraft. This makes rows 35 and 36 a little less ideal.

Overall

In business class, row 2 is likely to offer the best experience with minimal disruptions during boarding and under-the-seat storage. Economy class passengers can upgrade their journey by selecting preferred seating. However, if this is not something of interest, passengers should avoid row 35 and 36 due to the placement of the lavatory and rear galley.

Air Canada A220
The A220 has some of the widest seats in coach across Air Canada's fleet. Photo: Air Canada

Even for those passengers who unfortunately end up in the middle seat, the wide coach seats should still offer some relief. And, for families traveling together, this means a little more room to spread out.

Have you flown on Air Canada's A220? Which seats are your favorites? Let us know in the comments!