In December 2019, United Airlines placed an order for 50 A321XLRs, which is Airbus’ new ultra long range and fuel efficient evolution of the A321. The plane entered commercial service in late 2024, with Iberia and Aer Lingus being the launch customers.
There’s now an exciting development for United, as the carrier has today taken delivery of its very first A321XLR, which has the registration code N64321. As of the time I’m publishing this post, the plane is enroute from Hamburg (XFW) to Tampa (TPA). Why Tampa? Because it’s going to get Starlink installed there, before entering commercial service.
Anyway, with the plane entering service in the coming weeks, let’s recap what we can expect from this long range, narrow body plane…
How United will use its Airbus A321XLR aircraft
Before we talk about cabins, let’s talk about United’s route plans for Airbus A321XLRs:
- United will primarily fly A321XLRs across the North Atlantic and to Latin America, so you can expect the planes to largely be on “long and thin” routes, like Newark (EWR) to Bogota (BOG) and Edinburgh (EDI)
- United will not only use A321XLRs to replace Boeing 757-200s, but also to expand to some markets where the economics didn’t previously make sense, given that the A321XLR is more fuel efficient than the 757
What’s interesting is that separately, United will also be introducing some premium Airbus A321neos, with similar interiors to A321XLRs. The idea is that the A321XLRs will be used on international flights, while the A321neos will be used on premium transcontinental routes, and will therefore be a bit higher density.
American was the first US carrier to take delivery of the A321XLR, so it’s interesting to see the different approaches the airlines are taking, as American is using A321XLRs for both international and premium transcontinental flights.
I imagine that in the coming days, United will formally announce its first A321XLR routes. Don’t be surprised to see the planes first operating some domestic flights for crew familiarization, etc., before launching long haul service.
United’s Airbus A321XLRs will be in a three-cabin layout
All of United’s Airbus A321XLRs will boast a total of 150 seats, including 20 Polaris (business class) seats, 12 Premium Plus (premium economy) seats, 36 Economy Plus (extra legroom) seats, and 82 economy seats.
The plane will have just one lavatory in the front (which will be challenging, since it’ll be shared between all business class passengers, plus the pilots), and three lavatories in the back (shared between premium economy and economy), along with a small snack bar.
In Polaris (business class), United will be introducing an all-new product, given that wide body business class seats often can’t be efficiently installed on narrow body aircraft. So the airline will (unfortunately) be going with herringbone seats, meaning that seats will face the aisle, rather than facing the windows (this is more space efficient, but generally considered to be less comfortable). Seats will have privacy doors.
Seats will face the aisle at a 49 degree angle, and will boast just 28″ of pitch, so this is a rather dense layout. On the plus side, seats will convert into 75-78″ beds. I believe this seat is based on the Elevate Altitude product, and that United has a patent for this exact product.
For a narrow body business class, United’s new product looks totally fine, but it shouldn’t get anyone excited. I understand why United chose a product like this, but it’s kind of unfortunate how we’re seeing the return of herringbone seats, which are otherwise quite outdated on wide body planes. Ultimately it’s because reverse herringbone seats take up a bit more space, so couldn’t be installed as efficiently.
On the plus side, I tend to think that Premium Plus (premium economy) on the A321XLR is a nice experience, given the 2-2 layout, and the new premium economy seat being introduced. The lavatory situation won’t be ideal, but other than that, I think this is about as good as premium economy gets on a US carrier, as this will be comparable to domestic first class (the same is true on American’s A321XLRs).
As expected, economy will be in a 3-3 configuration, and the most noteworthy feature there is that there will be a little snack bar in the back of economy.
The planes will also feature Starlink Wi-Fi as soon as they enter service, so MileagePlus members can look forward to fast and free connectivity.
Bottom line
United Airlines has just started taking delivery of Airbus A321XLR aircraft, which will be in a three-cabin configuration, and will primarily be used for flights to Europe and South America. The plane will boast 150 seats, including 20 business class seats, 12 premium economy seats, and 118 economy seats. There will also be a snack bar in the back of the plane, plus free Starlink Wi-Fi.
While the A321XLR is a great plane in terms of opening up long and thin routes, from a passenger experience standpoint, it definitely doesn’t have a wide body feel. It’s certainly a better product than what’s found on the 757s that are being replaced, but the reality is that United will also significantly expand narrow body long haul flying.
What do you make of United’s Airbus A321XLRs?