For decades, luxury air travel has meant thinking big: A380s, private suites, champagne lounges, vast first-class cabins, even on-board showers. The next chapter though, could be about thinking smaller.
It is very likely you will have flown on the A320 family of aircraft with BA or a budget airline, it’s the workhorse of European short-haul aviation.
The latest version of the aircraft however is making a real mark across the skies.
The Airbus A321XLR is still the recognisable narrow-body aircraft but with the ability to carry more fuel, giving it much longer range.
With the ability to go long-haul, airlines are adding lie-flat beds, private suites and premium service on routes once considered too small for a wide-body jet.
It is quite a leap for an aircraft most of us associate with a quick hop to Barcelona or Berlin. The XLR can fly for up to 11 hours and as far as 4,700 nautical miles. Suddenly, a plane that looks like the aircraft you take to Malaga can cross the Atlantic.
With the ability to go long-haul, airlines are adding lie-flat beds, private suites and premium service…
Flying like a rock star
In a huge hangar at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey I went to see a brand new, gleaming United Airlines A321XLR – lit up like a rock star. Journalists and aviation enthusiasts posed for photos next to the fuselage.
This glitzy event was designed to highlight United Airlines’ belief that this narrow body jet is going to play a big role in how we fly in the coming years. They have ordered 50, with more to come.
United’s Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Nocella, described the new Polaris suite in the business cabin as having “been designed specifically to create a widebody experience on a narrowbody aircraft.”
Inside the Airbus A321XLR
I head on board and there’s a distinctive “new plane” smell. The interior – certainly at the front – reminds me of a private jet but on a bigger scale. There’s an unusually premium feel for a single-aisle jet: 20 lie-flat Polaris suites, each with a privacy door, alongside 12 Premium Plus seats. That’s 32 premium seats in total, 16 more than the Boeing 757-200 it is replacing.
The spacious Polaris suites are in a 1-1 configuration, so everyone has direct aisle access. They have 19-inch 4K OLED screens, a smart reading light, adjustable lumbar support and wireless charging. It is an intimate, quietly premium cabin in an aircraft small enough to reach places the giants can’t.
And that is perhaps the most intriguing luxury element. Not the suite itself but where the aircraft can take you.
United is deploying its A321XLR on new non-stop routes from the US to destinations including Ibiza, Luxembourg, Marseille, Toulouse and Valencia, destinations that historically have been more likely to require a connection through a major European hub.
Going direct is a luxury in itself, bypassing the mega-hubs and arriving closer to where you actually want to be.
For all the premium feel there are downsides. There’s no first class and walking down the single aisle can be an issue if you are trying to get to the toilet or stretch your legs and meet a member of the cabin crew pushing a trolley.
Where to fly the Airbus A321XLR
Britain has yet to fully embrace the A321XLR as a premium long-haul aircraft.
Wizz Air UK flies it from Gatwick, but its XLR’s are configured entirely for economy.
For a taste of what the XLR can offer in comfort you have to look across the Irish Sea to Aer Lingus, only the second airline in the world to receive the A321XLR. Or Iberia which uses XLRs on a number of transatlantic routes. American Airlines is flying the XLR from Edinburgh to JFK.
Perhaps that is the real benefit of the XLR. Not having the biggest cabin, the biggest aircraft or the biggest seat, but having the shortest possible journey between where you are and where you actually want to be.
In modern air travel, time and convenience might be the ultimate luxury.
Royal Salute is looking to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the eighth release in its Polo Collection, a 21 year old blended Scotch whisky finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. The limited-quantity release is a bespoke blend of Scotch whiskies aged for at least 21 years, created by Royal Salute Master Blender Emeritus Sandy Hyslop.…
Technics has unveiled the SL-1210MKX, a new upper-tier professional direct-drive DJ turntable that builds on more than five decades of SL-1200 heritage. Positioned above the current SL-1210MK7, the newcomer has been developed with input from working DJs and sound engineers, with a focus on stability, precision and creative flexibility. The launch comes as vinyl remains…
One of the more intrigung new whiskies to launch this month is Cù Bòcan Creation #9. The product of American virgin oak and Manzanilla sherry casks, it’s a sweet and sour treat notable both for its flavour profile and affordability. But what’s the deal with Cù Bòcan and the distillery behind the label? It turns…
For decades, luxury air travel has meant thinking big: A380s, private suites, champagne lounges, vast first-class cabins, even on-board showers. The next chapter though, could be about thinking smaller.
It is very likely you will have flown on the A320 family of aircraft with BA or a budget airline, it’s the workhorse of European short-haul aviation.
The latest version of the aircraft however is making a real mark across the skies.
The Airbus A321XLR is still the recognisable narrow-body aircraft but with the ability to carry more fuel, giving it much longer range.
With the ability to go long-haul, airlines are adding lie-flat beds, private suites and premium service on routes once considered too small for a wide-body jet.
It is quite a leap for an aircraft most of us associate with a quick hop to Barcelona or Berlin. The XLR can fly for up to 11 hours and as far as 4,700 nautical miles. Suddenly, a plane that looks like the aircraft you take to Malaga can cross the Atlantic.
Flying like a rock star
In a huge hangar at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey I went to see a brand new, gleaming United Airlines A321XLR – lit up like a rock star. Journalists and aviation enthusiasts posed for photos next to the fuselage.
This glitzy event was designed to highlight United Airlines’ belief that this narrow body jet is going to play a big role in how we fly in the coming years. They have ordered 50, with more to come.
United’s Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Nocella, described the new Polaris suite in the business cabin as having “been designed specifically to create a widebody experience on a narrowbody aircraft.”
Inside the Airbus A321XLR
I head on board and there’s a distinctive “new plane” smell. The interior – certainly at the front – reminds me of a private jet but on a bigger scale. There’s an unusually premium feel for a single-aisle jet: 20 lie-flat Polaris suites, each with a privacy door, alongside 12 Premium Plus seats. That’s 32 premium seats in total, 16 more than the Boeing 757-200 it is replacing.
The spacious Polaris suites are in a 1-1 configuration, so everyone has direct aisle access. They have 19-inch 4K OLED screens, a smart reading light, adjustable lumbar support and wireless charging. It is an intimate, quietly premium cabin in an aircraft small enough to reach places the giants can’t.
And that is perhaps the most intriguing luxury element. Not the suite itself but where the aircraft can take you.
United is deploying its A321XLR on new non-stop routes from the US to destinations including Ibiza, Luxembourg, Marseille, Toulouse and Valencia, destinations that historically have been more likely to require a connection through a major European hub.
Going direct is a luxury in itself, bypassing the mega-hubs and arriving closer to where you actually want to be.
For all the premium feel there are downsides. There’s no first class and walking down the single aisle can be an issue if you are trying to get to the toilet or stretch your legs and meet a member of the cabin crew pushing a trolley.
Where to fly the Airbus A321XLR
Britain has yet to fully embrace the A321XLR as a premium long-haul aircraft.
Wizz Air UK flies it from Gatwick, but its XLR’s are configured entirely for economy.
For a taste of what the XLR can offer in comfort you have to look across the Irish Sea to Aer Lingus, only the second airline in the world to receive the A321XLR. Or Iberia which uses XLRs on a number of transatlantic routes. American Airlines is flying the XLR from Edinburgh to JFK.
Perhaps that is the real benefit of the XLR. Not having the biggest cabin, the biggest aircraft or the biggest seat, but having the shortest possible journey between where you are and where you actually want to be.
In modern air travel, time and convenience might be the ultimate luxury.
Royal Salute 21 Year Old Polo Edition adds Pedro Ximénez finish for a taste of the Middle East
Royal Salute is looking to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the eighth release in its Polo Collection, a 21 year old blended Scotch whisky finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. The limited-quantity release is a bespoke blend of Scotch whiskies aged for at least 21 years, created by Royal Salute Master Blender Emeritus Sandy Hyslop.…
In vinyl we trust: Technics unveils flagship SL-1210MKX professional DJ turntable
Technics has unveiled the SL-1210MKX, a new upper-tier professional direct-drive DJ turntable that builds on more than five decades of SL-1200 heritage. Positioned above the current SL-1210MK7, the newcomer has been developed with input from working DJs and sound engineers, with a focus on stability, precision and creative flexibility. The launch comes as vinyl remains…
Ghost Dog Vs distillery: The story behind Cù Bòcan, Tomatin’s experimental Highland spirit
One of the more intrigung new whiskies to launch this month is Cù Bòcan Creation #9. The product of American virgin oak and Manzanilla sherry casks, it’s a sweet and sour treat notable both for its flavour profile and affordability. But what’s the deal with Cù Bòcan and the distillery behind the label? It turns…
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