A330 new style business - talking to person next to you
 

I'm flying with my 3 year old daughter MEL - SYD in the new style J on the A330 (with points). I haven't flown the new style seat.

For those who have flown this configuration, is it possible to talk to / see the person next to you easily by leaning forward with your seat belt done up? We are sitting in the middle two seats and the divider looks big in the photos.

I was a little concerned that it might be hard to talk to my daughter during take off and landing.

Even before the issue of communications, do be aware that aircraft swaps may happen right up until you walk down to the aircraft door. Is is more than "just a chance". Learn to love the numbers 738. :)

Others may add more, but I think only a few pairs of centre seats allow easy communication over the divider. I've only sat in the window seats so can't elaborate further.

It is hard but do-able - you should be able to lean forwards just about enough. It's not ideal with the fixed divider.

Bigger issue for me is the fixed floor divider...we decided after our last flight that next time we would stick to one side of the a/c (window and aisle pairs rather than middle pairs), since the floor divider makes it tough to help them in their seat - you pretty much have to walk through the galley at the front or rear of the cabin to move to the other aisle.

It looks worse than it actually is.

We travelled in 1E/F SYD-MEL and by leaning slightly forward you can talk to your seatmate, even with your seatbelt on. Of course the height of an adult also helps but you will be fine.

The partition doesn't come our as far as it seems. In fact you could hold hands while you fly.