Air Canada refreshes Rouge A321s, adds legroom on board

Some travelers on Air Canada‘s Rouge fleet should find themselves just a bit more comfortable starting later this year. The carrier announced today it is retrofitting the cabins and removing a few seats on nine of its A321s, increasing legroom for passengers.

Air Canada Rouge remains integral to Air Canada’s overall strategy. As we emerge from the pandemic, we anticipate increased demand for vacation travel and from customers flying to enjoy overdue visits with family and friends.

– Jon Turner, Vice President Inflight Services and President, Rouge Operations, at Air Canada

A more spacious cabin

These nine aircraft feature leather seats, with 30-inch seat pitch in the Economy cabin. The Rouge Premium cabin loses a row, dropping to just 12 seats rather than 16 on board.

An extra row of economy class seats moves into the forward zone, while the mid-cabin area loses a row. Passengers in both those areas should have a more spacious ride.

Read More: Porter Air reduces seat pitch as it resumes operations

The rear section of the plane appears similar in both layouts; don’t expect additional room down the back.

The new cabin layout appears will only fly on nine of Rouge’s 14 A321s. This could lead to some interesting passenger issues in the case of a swap. Besides fewer total seats available on the new configuration, the bulkhead and exit rows are different.

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Updated IFE, too

The Rouge planes feature streaming entertainment on board for travelers. With the latest refresh this will no longer require an app for access. Taking advantage of browser-based DRM is a significant improvement.

The A321 Rouge aircraft also offer upgraded personal power options, including USB-C ports, and a convenient personal electronic device holder integrated into the seatback.