Iberia Airbus A321XLR: A New Era For Long Haul Travel

In no way, shape, or form is this "good news"!

We're talking about a downgrade in the customer experience in every possible way. No premium economy, no "honeymoon suites" in business -- and, oh yeah, a NARROWBODY aircraft, so everything is even more cramped than it normally would be.

There is nothing appealing about this, the only upside is for the airline itself because this claustrophobia-inducing thing consumes less fuel.

This is awful. I'm a frequent BOS-MAD flyer, but I'll do everything to avoid this dumb airplane, probably will have to start flying JFK-MAD.

Those Thompson Aero VantageSOLO seats in the XLR look just like the VS "coffin seats" we all hate on their 787.

Only an Avgeek would find this to be good news. I got all excited when I saw that Boston was featured in the new launch until I realized the implications of the narrow body and the shape of the seats. Makes me claustrophobic just to look at them. Will avoid this like the plague. Who gives a crap about fuel efficiency?

Hi @Ben
I know this is out of topic but i wanted to request you for an article on Cathay Pacific's new Aria business class suites, premium economy and economy class. I would love to hear your thoughts about the Aria suites. In my opinion those seats are not revolutionary but an evolution of the current business class seats with some new technology and doors. I will appreciate an article on the suites.
And when are you planning to fly the Aria suites?

It will likely mean daily frequencies during winter and twice daily during summer. As opposed to 4 x weekly winter and once daily in summer. This will make it more attractive for businesses and some leisure customers too.

The comfort isn’t as good as a narrow body but the additional frequencies may be more important to a lot of customers.

The real problem is Iberia itself. Customer service and in-flight service is poor. IT is terrible. I will incur additional cost and time if need be to avoid flying on Iberia. However, congratulations on the new aircraft.

I will have to disagree, I find Iberia employees, both onboard and on the phones, to be lovely, and the airline is one of the most punctual in the world. IT certainly has its quirks, I will give you that. Maybe it's a cultural difference or linguistic barrier? I've lived in Spain for 8 years and speak fluent Spanish, that probably makes for a different experience.

Funny enough, I'm not at all a fan of the new aircraft, I think it's a huge downgrade of the hard product.

Iberia (and Aer Lingus) 'service' levels. Seats away from windows, claustrophobic looking seats, single aisle and tiny narrowbody toilets and galeys. An airplane to avoid for anything longer than 4 hour flights. And I'm talking about business seats, cant even imagine how horrible this must be in economy. Is this how the future looks like?

Longhaul narrowbodies are extremely overrated.

You'll essentially have smaller space and seats for the same price paid as widebodies.

Only airlines will benefit from cheaper costs incurred.

But of course, I guess this doesn't matter because Proximanova's wisdom tell us that we should "visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)".

You might want to wait a few weeks more because it’s only flying to Beijing now.

My assessment is based on multiple experiences of my own over a few years. A family member of Spanish descent speaks fluent Spanish and lives in Spain. Her experience is that they are warm and friendly . . . but there's not a culture of service. She avoids Iberia. Another family member lives in France and has flown Iberia several times. Same take-away. Last month, friends flew Iberia long haul. Same take-away. Maybe we're just lucky.

For all of the airlines that are adopting XLRs for long haul, it will come down to economics. While the fuel burn is lower, there's not the cargo revenue the wide-bodies would bring in. Net-net, we'll have to wait and see how the numbers play out. As a passenger, images of AA's seats look far more attractive/comfortable than Iberia's.

A 757 replacement with more range and way more fuel efficient.

this is a mental take.

Wouldn't it mean overall less chance of getting an award seat if wide body planes with more business class seats being replaced with these? Or would these new planes be deployed in new markets?

I've always wondered about the economics as well. With only 14 business class seats and no premium economy, I'm wondering what the break-even point has to be in order to make money on XLR flights.

It really isn’t and I fully agree with them (I’ve known male and female Robins). Even the pressurised altitude of narrowbody short haul design planes is higher than wide bodies. They simply aren’t as pleasant to fly in.

Good for IAG to stand up to Air Lingus pilot union

oh yeah, a NARROWBODY aircraft, so everything is even more cramped than it normally would be.

That's actually not true.

Economy pax will have more headroom in the A321XLR than they do in IB's A330s. Business pax will have a seat that's 1" wider than on the A330s and A350s.

As expected, the 757 is a 1980s jet.

You'll essentially have smaller space and seats for the same price paid as widebodies.

Why do people just repeat stuff like this, instead of taking the 5seconds necessary to see if it's actually true or not?

Biz seats on their A321XLR will actually be wider than on their A330s and A350s, while the same 76" length.

The -XLR, like all A321NEOs, will also offer more headroom to economy passengers than any A330CEO.

Honestly if the A321 Neo had mid cabin boarding doors like the 757 it would be a no brainer upgrade to me.

Coach traffic walking past business is stressful and unpleasant.

On the other hand, smaller aircraft mean a more efficient and faster boarding process.

@ConcordeBoy

In terms of numerical data, yes you're right that they might be wider than widebodies.
But you ignored the cabin comfort level as a whole, because why not. You're just going through a denial.

Sure the numerical data surrounding the seat doesn't sound too bad, but the smaller cabin space will betray your belief.

Not to mention how they lack storages, How close they are to each other seats, and also the fact that these are placed in a herringbone pattern.

Let's not even talk about the foot cubby.

Now I hope you understand why people are repeating these valid complaints although you seem to be seeing those as a silly b*tching.

A new era?? That’s a bit breathless for an updated A321…..

While I don't *love* the idea of longer flights on narrowbodies, I still find non-stops vastly superior to connecting itineraries. (Especially when OW would send me through PHL, LHR, or, god forbid, CLT)

"although you seem to be seeing those as a silly b*tching."

Nor would he be wrong on that front. Let's be real.

@ImmortalSynn

You want to be real? Let's really be real.

Just because you either don't give a damn about a personal space, or short/slim, or a woman, doesn't mean that everyone else don't care about how much space a seat or a cabin has.

Grow up.

The number of award seats will depend on company policy, I guess you'll have to look up how IAG decides on releasing award seats. I'm sure the absolute number won't be as high as on a widebody, but the relative number might be equal, and the chance of grabbing one might also be about equal if these routes aren't in high demand.

As Ben wrote, and I think he's right there, these planes will be used mostly on new markets and on markets with low seasonal demand to be able to offer a year round service anyway. I think UA showed the possibilities of having long range narrowbodies on new routes with their 2025 summer schedule, while the example given in this article (the DC route) shows how a seasonal route is converted into a year-round one. That also depends on the strategies of the airlines deploying them.

@ImportViking: thank you! Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Yuck, I’d much prefer the normal Thompson Aero Vantage seats to the solo. I’m going to miss the 330/350s flying into Boston! At least TAP is still a decent option, usually with much better pricing as well!

Aside from being herringbone, not really. Having flown those old seats a number of times on ANZ in the past couple years, some of the big issues with the VS & ANZ seats are a total lack of storage, staring at people's feet, limited ability to recline/lounge (since the seats fold forward into a bed), small clunky screens and bad tech. All of those issues are solved on these new seats. As Ben mentioned, these are the same seats that JetBlue installed, and those get favorable reviews.

The biggest question for me is: "Are there air vents?" Because having flown their widebodies before, the biggest issue for me was how crazy hot they kept their cabins, and the lack of air vents. I will gladly take a narrowbody with an improved ability at temperature control over a widebody that feels like a sauna.

Oh sweetie, it's not that I don't care. It's that you don't have a clue. As someone else just pointed out to you: you're bitching about differences that are the exact opposite of what you assume them to be.

@ImmortalSynn

For the second time I'm saying that the data on paper is often quite different from reality.

Sure A321XLRs will have more seat width and the same bed length compared to A350 etc, but actual usable spaces will strike you back.

These seats are very compactly placed leaving very little room for storage.
And because it's placed very tightly, obviously you'll have overall smaller space, even if seat is wider or whatsoever.

Those seats were only good for people traveling together. It kind of sucked if you were assigned one of those seats or they were the only ones left and you were traveling alone.

I have and know others who have had good experiences overall on Iberia. Good service and much improved food.

"For the second time I'm saying that the data on paper is often quite different from reality. "

I saw what you wrote the first time. Repeating it, isn't going to magically make it true. Look at your descriptors: "very compactly" and "very tightly" aren't measurements, they're opinions.

Here was my solution to that. $6, and one of the best travel purchases I've ever made.

https://www.amazon.com/Yucime-Portable-Handheld-Adjustable-Recharging/dp/B0BWK3F8WZ

Yea, who wants those peasants walking past you while you sip your champagne and avoid looking them in the eye as you know you probably profited off of their misery.

I would consider it a positive if these aircraft were being used on newer (thinner) nonstop routes to MAD. So far, they are simply augmenting existing widebody service. As far as that goes, I agree with this take. But, in the case of Aer Lingus' plans to serve BNA and IND using this model, I think it's great. Those are the kinds of routes where the 321XLR makes a huge impact.

Either way, Ben's hype about this being such a new chapter for aviation is quite an overstatement.

Totally agree! No PE is a disaster. And if I can't sit next to my travel partner why sit up front really?

Every flight I've been on BOS-MAD PE has been been 100% full.

This is a huge step back, but I guess there's nothing to be done about it. Good thing it's a short and early flight from BOS, coach will have to do I guess.

It's amazing to me that people get excited about these planes, especially when they are downgauging from widebodies on existing routes, rather than opening up new ones. Tiny windows, cramped cabins, herringbone layout instead, without doubt worse service from the tiny galleys, generally slower speeds, so slightly longer times in the sir.

Who cares if the biz class seats are 1" wider than the A330 when you can see in the photo they are in an objectively much worse and less comfortable layout? And no Premium Economy! Will be avoiding these wherever possible.

I just had a round trip IAD-MAD on this plane cancelled. Delivery issues? Low sales volumes? Predictably, getting Iberia to rebook was extremely difficult, now with two unexpected layovers.