What it’ll be like to fly on the Airbus A321XLR

Airbus is counting down to the debut of the A321XLR, with the first of the ‘extra-long range’ single-aisle jets due to be handed over to Spain’s Iberia in the coming weeks, ahead of flights from late October.

Qantas will be the first airline in the Asia-Pacific region to fly the A321XLR, with deliveries slated from April 2025.

Qantas will fly the A321XLR around Australia and across the Asia-Pacific region.

These red-tailed jets will not only replace Qantas’ workhorse Boeing 737 on domestic routes and short hops to New Zealand, Fiji and Noumea – they can take on longer international routes which usually need a larger twin-aisle Airbus A330 or Boeing 787.

Hong Kong, Bangkok, Manila, Tokyo and even India are all within the A321XLR’s reach, depending on which Australian city it flies from.

With a clear range advantage over the Boeing 737, the Airbus A321XLR will reshape Qantas' network.

So whether it’s the 90-minute dash from Sydney to Melbourne, a five-hour transcontinental trek between Australia’s east and west coasts or a ten-hour stretch into Asia, the A321XLR is a little jet with a lot of promise.

But what will it be like to fly on the A321XLR? And more to the point, will passengers feel confined spending long hours in the relatively close quarters of this compact single-aisle jet?

“That’s a concern that we took very seriously,” says Antonio Da-Costa, who heads the marketing team for Airbus’ single-aisle jets… and as it happens, Airbus drew some solace from the mighty Boeing 747

“We did a lot of passenger research, and one of the things that came out was that when you ask business travellers what was their favourite cabin, many came back saying the 747 upper deck… it was perceived to be a very exclusive environment, a more cosy arrangement, more a corporate jet than a commercial aircraft.”

The upper deck of the Boeing 747 has a similar degree of intimacy as the A321XLR, Airbus says.

Da-Costa expects passengers will feel the same on A321XLR jets of customers Iberia and American Airlines, for starters, which will come with a private lie-flat business class suite on either side of the aisle.

Flatbed solo seats are a popular business class choice on the A321XLR.

“You have direct access to the aisle and direct access to the window, so you have the best of both worlds,” Da-Costa tells Executive Traveller.

“And the fact that you’re in a smallish cabin for business class (means) you do have this sense of exclusivity, of being in an exclusive little cabin.”

The inside story

From the outside, the A321XLR looks like any of its shorter-range siblings from the A320neo family – including the long-range A321LR – although an underbelly bulge behind the wings conceals a high-capacity fuel tank to boost its range to a staggering 8,700km, or up to 11 hours of flying in a standard airline configuration.

The long-legged A321XLR can unlock routes that can't support a larger twin-aisle jet, such as from Canberra, Adelaide or Perth into Asia.

But inside, Airbus wants the A321XLR to deliver the same passenger experience as its larger twin-aisle cousins.

“We want to make the comfort experience seamless to the A330neo or the A350,” Da-Costa explains. “We have the same Airspace design in the cabin, so the look and feel of the A321XLR cabin is similar to that of the wide-bodies.”

Even the A321XLR’s slightly wider cabin, compared to the competing Boeing 737, “enables you to have pretty much the same seat width as on a wide-body aircraft,” Da-Costa says.

“If you’re flying in economy, it’s an 18-inch wide seat. And in business, we’re already seeing 321LR customers putting in lie-flat seats…  even on the XLR, the lead customer Iberia has already announced that they’re installing fully lie-flat seats at the front of the cabin.”

Iberia's A321XLR will feature these lie-flat business class seats.

(And while Qantas is installing domestic-grade business class recliners on its first A321XLRs, the airline is considering lie-flat beds for a second tranche of jets which will mainly be flown on international routes.)

Big bins for the win

However, Da-Costa cites the A321XLR’s generously-sized overhead bins as “my favourite feature.”

“The extra large bins enable every passenger to take a roller bag on board. That’s always my bug bear… today you’re always fighting to make sure that your bag is not that far from you.”

While these plus-sized bins are optional – airlines can also choose standard-sized bins – Da-Costa notes that most airlines are specifying them for the A321LR or XLR.

“On long-haul flights, it’s very common that everybody brings some relatively large pieces of luggage by cabin standards.”

There's enough room for every A321XLR passenger to bring a full-sized cabin bag on board.

Nor will passengers on the A321XLR have to put up with the loud droning thrum of engines, with Da-Costa proud that “this is the quietest single-aisle in the market.”

“When you’re spending up to 11 hours inside the cabin, you appreciate having a lower noise level which is again comparable to the wide-bodies.”

“Another feature which is also very important for a long flight is the LED mood lighting.”

Full-width economy seats, large luggage bins and LED lightscapes are all part of the A321XLR experience.

Customisable across 16.2 million colours, it allows airlines “to programme the intensity and the colour of the light according to the flight segment” and help take the edge off jet-lag.

Airbus also altered the shape of the frame or bezel surrounding the A321XLR’s windows, which makes them seem slightly larger “and brings a sense of extra space into the cabin.”

“Now you have a more curved shape around the window itself, which makes it easier for passengers to look outside the window,” Da-Costa explains.

“In fact, it gives the perception that the window is bigger just by the fact that you now have more space around the window frame.”

More room for more meals

Another concern voiced by many frequent business class travellers is how the limited kitchen galley space on this single-aisle plane will impact meal service – especially the provision of a second full meal closer to your destination.

“That’s a fair concern,” Da-Costa admits, “so we’ve made sure that we have galley space that’s adequate to serve the two full meals that you expect on an 11-hour flight.”

This includes a more efficient galley design which can also “take advantage of extra space that was unused between the galley and the bulkhead.”

On a 10-hour flight, business class passengers will be expecting two full meal services.

Airlines also have the option of an additional galley in their cabin layout, and without naming names, Da-Costa says “we’ve seen some customers electing to increase the galley space.”

Even the premium layout of the A321XLR’s business class cabin for long-range flights can play a part, “because you end up with less passengers on board relative to a domestic flight.”

“When you’re talking of the 321LR or XLR, we’ve been seeing seat counts between 170 to 190 seats. On a more conventional A321 domestic configuration we tend to see 220 seats and north of that. So by that natural effect of having less passengers on board, you have more galley space per passenger.”