Loganair

Loganair is Scotland's regional airline, and its network is unlike almost anything else in the UK. It stitches together the Highlands and Islands with routes that are lifelines rather than leisure trips: Glasgow and Aberdeen out to Stornoway, Kirkwall, Sumburgh and the smaller island strips, plus a growing set of regional links across the UK and to a handful of near-Europe destinations. Some of its shortest sectors are measured in minutes, not hours.

Because the routes are short and the airports are small, Loganair is a single-class operation. There is no business cabin to weigh up and no upgrade to hold out for. The decision a traveller actually makes here is which seat in one economy cabin, and on these aircraft that comes down to the wing, the propeller line and how quickly you want off at the other end.

The ATR 72-600 is the largest aircraft most passengers will meet on Loganair, a modern turboprop built for exactly this kind of short regional flying. It seats around seventy in a single economy class, arranged 2-2 down the cabin, and it is the workhorse for the busier island and mainland routes. Alongside it Loganair runs smaller Embraer regional jets and the rugged Twin Otter and Islander types that serve the shortest and most weather-exposed strips.

For seat-choosing purposes, the ATR 72-600 is the aircraft worth knowing. Its 2-2 layout removes the middle-seat problem entirely, the propellers sit at the wing line roughly mid-cabin, and boarding is usually by airstairs at the rear. That combination shapes where the quiet seats and the fast-exit seats sit.

The ATR cabin is compact and makes no pretence otherwise. Short regional turboprop flying keeps the seats to a conventional economy pitch with a simple recline, and the flights are usually short enough that the seat comfort matters less than the view and the noise. On a clear day the run over the Hebrides or down to Orkney is one of the better window seats in British aviation, which is a real point in favour of picking a window here.

The propellers are the defining feature of the experience. They sit at the wing, so the rows level with them carry more engine drone than the rows fore and aft. The cabin is single-aisle 2-2 throughout, boarding tends to be by rear airstairs, and there is no galley theatre to speak of on sectors this short. It is a functional cabin doing a functional job, and the map is mostly about trading noise against exit speed.

On the ATR 72-600, the rows forward of the wing are the quietest because they sit ahead of the propeller line, so if noise bothers you, aim for the front third of the cabin. The rows level with the propellers are the loudest, and they are also where the wing blocks the best of the downward view, so window-seat hunters should sit forward of or behind them.

Boarding and disembarking is commonly by the rear airstairs on these aircraft, which flips the usual logic: the back rows can be quicker off the plane than the front. If a fast exit at a small island terminal matters more than a quiet seat, the rear pays off. With a 2-2 layout there is no middle seat to dodge, so the real choice is window against aisle and forward against aft.