The invention concerns an absorbent article (1) such as a sanitary napkin or incontinence pad having longitudinal side edges and transversal end edges and comprising a fluid permeable topsheet (8), a fluid impermeable backsheet (9) and an absorbent core (10) located between the topsheet (8) and the backsheet (9). The absorbent core (10) comprises a first absorbent layer (11) having an opening (12) extending there through and a fluid flow control structure (13) located between said first absorbent layer (11) and said backsheet (9). The first absorbent layer (11) has a longitudinal front portion (6) and a longitudinal back portion (7) and a narrow transversal transition (14) located between said front portion (6) and said back portion (7). The width of the narrow transversal transition (14) is 50-75% of the widest transversal width of the front portion (6) of the first absorbent layer (11) and 20-50% of the longitudinal length of the opening (12) is located in the front portion (6) of the first absorbent layer (11).
