I flew 4.5 hours on Jet2 last week and was so pleased when I realised the same. One of the most comfortable flights I've ever had and as far as leg room goes I had more than on a 12 hour flight to Singapore in June - the seat itself on the Singapore flight was more comfortable but having the person infronts head in my nose was not pleasant!

Amazingly I found Norwegians 787 to JFK one of the best (and cheapest) flights I'd taken recently. Also not using Heathrow is a huge plus for me, at least until crossrail opens.

Agreed. Norwegian has a really fairly priced premium fare (not as nice as other intl bi clas, but terrific value).

The 787s that they fly also make a big difference in comfort because of the higher humidity, lower noise, and better air quality.

I flew with Ryanair for the first time in years last week, I was also pleased by this! Although the seats do seem surprisingly thin and wobbly (especially with small kids bouncing around in them).

They use thin-backed seats because it lets them fit in another row or two of seats, AFAIK.

I also like that. And additionally, they don't have the worst seat pitch either. In a recent trip I took flights with Vueling, Iberia and Ryanair. Vueling was excruciating torture (it always is, but it was the only airline serving that route, so unavoidable). Iberia was somewhat milder torture. Ryanair was actually quite OK, at least I could fit in the space without physical pressure from the seat in front if I placed my legs at a particular angle.