Paul Lucas Survives Wizz Air's Longest Flight — And Has Thoughts About the Legroom

What happens when one of YouTube's most well-travelled aviation reviewers boards a budget narrowbody for one of the longest economy hauls in European aviation? You get Paul Lucas of Wingin' It! doing what he does best — enduring the experience so you don't have to, and delivering a verdict that is equal parts grimace and grudging admiration. In his latest video, Lucas tackles Wizz Air's longest flight, the marathon Jeddah (JED) to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) service operated on the brand-new Airbus A321XLR — and the results are as brutal as the title promises.

The Route, the Plane, and the Price Tag

This marks the first time the Wingin' It! channel has ever covered Wizz Air, making it a genuine debut for one of Europe's most polarising ultra-low-cost carriers. The route itself is a headline-grabber: Jeddah to London Gatwick is a serious long-haul stretch for a single-aisle aircraft, and Wizz Air is doing it on the Airbus A321XLR — the extended-range narrowbody that is reshaping what budget airlines can attempt. For context, Lucas has previously flown Ryanair's longest flight just weeks prior, so he arrives at this review with fresh ultra-budget long-haul experience to draw on.

The headline number that Lucas leads with is the ticket price, and it's genuinely hard to argue with. He paid just £189 one-way with flexibility — a fare that, for a flight connecting Saudi Arabia to the UK, is remarkable by any standard.

It only cost me 189 pounds one way with flexibility, which to get to Jeddah is very, very cheap.

For travellers eyeing the Jeddah–London corridor — particularly those travelling for Umrah — that price point is a genuine disruptor. Wizz Air is clearly targeting a market that has historically been served by full-service carriers like British Airways and Qatar Airways, and the price gap is enormous.

The Brutal Reality: Legroom and Catering

Here is where the video earns its title. Lucas does not pull punches on the hard product. The seat pitch on Wizz Air's A321XLR clocks in at just 28 inches — a figure he describes as among the smallest in Europe, and one that becomes genuinely punishing over a multi-hour flight to the Middle East. For comparison, Lucas recently praised Norse Atlantic's premium economy on the New York (JFK) to London Gatwick (LGW) route as "one of the best value seats in the sky" — a world away from what Wizz Air is offering here.

Lucas is candid about the physical toll. At the 637-second mark, he admits on camera:

I'm really starting to hurt.

On catering, the picture is similarly stark. Wizz Air does not serve proper hot meals on this route — instead offering a range of meal deals available for purchase. It is a model familiar to anyone who has flown Ryanair or easyJet across Europe, but considerably more demanding when stretched across a flight of this distance. Lucas frames the catering as a negative, though not an unexpected one given the airline's positioning.

His survival tips for anyone considering the route are practical and hard-won. He recommends downloading content before departure, packing a power bank, and investing in good headphones — the holy trinity of budget long-haul self-care.

The Verdict: Quirky, Brutal, and Oddly Loveable

Despite the physical discomfort and the stripped-back service, Lucas lands on a verdict that will surprise some viewers. The overall tone is mixed but genuinely affectionate — a rare outcome for a review that spends considerable time cataloguing the airline's shortcomings. The A321XLR itself is a remarkable piece of engineering, and the novelty of flying a narrowbody on a route of this length gives the video an enthusiast's energy that carries through the pain.

This flight was brutal, but I loved it. It's quirky and unique.

That framing — brutal but beloved — is very much the Wingin' It! brand. Lucas has previously described British Airways' longest A380 flight in economy as a similarly gruelling but worthwhile exercise, and his SAS narrowbody marathon — which he said he'd "fly again in a heartbeat" — shows a clear appetite for endurance aviation content. Noel Philips covered a similarly themed long narrowbody flight two years prior, noting he'd "almost rather" be on a narrowbody for nine hours than a widebody with hundreds of passengers — though that comparison is now dated enough to carry limited weight.

For budget-conscious travellers — particularly those in the UK looking to reach Jeddah for Umrah or leisure — the Wizz Air A321XLR product represents a genuinely disruptive option. At £189 one-way, the price is almost impossible to beat. But Lucas makes clear that the cost in comfort is real, and passengers should go in with eyes wide open: no hot food, 28 inches of pitch, and a flight duration that will test even seasoned economy travellers. Bring snacks, charge your devices, and maybe stretch in the aisle.