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Aer Lingus was supposed to be the launch customer for the Airbus A321XLR after Ireland’s flag carrier and its pilots got into a spat, so Iberia, a fellow airline in the IAG stable, took over the mantle of launch customer in May of this year.
This is the aircraft that has been designed to fly some of the shorter long-haul routes that are currently being operated by larger aircraft, and you can expect to see them operating a significant number of flights across the Atlantic once more airlines start to take delivery.
Iberia’s transatlantic A321XLR routes
From 14 November 2024, Iberia will launch the first transatlantic A321XLR service when the aircraft takes over the Madrid – Boston route from the A330 that currently operates it. This is what the schedule will look like:
IB347 MAD 12:35 – 15:00 BOS
IB348 BOS 16:35 – 05:40+ 1 day MAD
During the winter season, the number of days on which this route operates changes from 3 to 5 to 6 and then to 7, so make sure you check the schedules closely if you’re thinking of booking.
From 15 January 2025, this aircraft will be used to launch a winter service between Madrid and Washington D.C. (IAD) on the following schedule*:
IB347 MAD 13:00– 16:20 IAD (Mon & Wed-Sun)
IB348 IAD 17:50 – 07:35+ 1 day MAD (Mon & Wed-Sun)
*Schedule w/c 21 January 2025. Frequencies may increase after this.
Both of these routes can currently be booked with Avios and AAdvantage Miles (as well as other OneWorld currencies)
Avios (one way from):
- Economy Class: 17,000 + taxes and fees
- Business Class: 34,000 + taxes and fees
AAdvantage Miles (round trip from):
- Economy Class: 22,500 + taxes and fees
- Business Class: 57,500 miles + taxes and fees
Be aware that availability when using Avios appears to be considerably better than when using AAdvantage Miles.
For a transatlantic Business Class cabin, those award costs are quite reasonable (especially as Iberia’s surcharges are not as heinous at those imposed by British Airways), but for short period, there will be a cheaper way to try out the new aircraft.
Iberia’s A321XLR orientation flights
When an airline takes delivery of a long-haul aircraft that’s new to its fleet, it usually arranges for a series of short haul ‘orientation’ flights to get its crews accustomed to the aircraft before it launches it on the routes for which it was designed.
Just as it did when it first took delivery of its first A350-900s, Iberia has now scheduled the new A321XLR aircraft to operate between Madrid and London (very briefly) and also between Madrid and Paris.
This is what those schedules look like:
Inaugural trip Madrid – London Heathrow (26 October 2024):
IB3170 MAD 07:00 – 08:25 LHR
IB3163 LHR 09:15 – 12:40 MAD
Madrid – London Heathrow (27 – 31 October 2024):
IB711 MAD 06:55 – 08:25 LHR (Daily)
IB712 LHR 09:15 – 12:40 MAD (Daily)
Madrid – Paris (26 October 2024):
IB3398 MAD 15:55 – 18:00 CDG
IB3425 CDG 19:30 – 21:40 MAD
Madrid – Paris (27 October – 13 November 2024)
IB589 MAD 15:50 – 18:00 CDG (Daily)
IB590 CDG 19:30 – 21:40 MAD (Daily)
Madrid – Paris (1 – 13 November 2024)
IB585 MAD 08:00 – 10:10 CDG (Daily)
IB586 CDG 11:45 – 13:55 MAD (Daily)
These routes can also be booked using Avios and AAdvantage Miles, and this is what the costs look like:
Avios (one way from):
- Economy Class: 7,500 + taxes and fees*
- Business Class: 15,000 + taxes and fees*
AAdvantage Miles (round trip from):
- Economy Class: 12,500 + taxes and fees
- Business Class: 22,500 + taxes and fees
*You can use fewer Avios, but the surcharges then increase and make most award bookings uneconomical.
At the time of writing, Business Class awards for the London flights are scarce, but there’s a good number of dates on which the flights to/from Paris are showing Business Class award availability.
The Iberia A321XLR
As is the case with all of the aircraft in A320 family, the A321XLR is a narrow body aircraft (one aisle), and so the Economy Class cabin will look very much like the Economy Class cabins Iberia offers for flights within Europe (i.e. a 3-3 layout).
Unlike its European single-aisle aircraft, however, Iberia’s A321XLR is expected to offer seats that are 18″ wide (per Airbus) and a pitch of 31″ – 32″ (legroom). That’s a considerable improvement on the short haul fleet.
Related: Iberia A320 Economy Class review
The Business Class cabin will offer just 14 seats set out in a herringbone layout.
Because Iberia has been very tight-lipped about its new aircraft, there aren’t many official facts that we can share about the Business Class cabin, but based on the seat map, we can guess that this cabin will feature the same Thompson Aero VantageSOLO seat that you’ll find in JetBlue’s transatlantic A321 aircraft.
We don’t know whether or not Iberia’s version of this seat will offer a privacy door or whether row 1 will feature a slightly different seat to the rest of the cabin, but we only have a few weeks left before we find out and I’m sorely tempted to see if I can get over to Europe to find out for myself.
Bottom line
Iberia will soon be taking delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR aircraft which, over a period of three weeks, it will be flying on its routes to London and Madrid.
With Iberia not being very forthcoming with information about the cabins it has installed on these aircraft, what passengers will be offered is still a little bit of a mystery, but if you’re over in Europe at the beginning of November and have some spare Avios or AAdvantage Miles, you can try out both the aircraft’s cabins for a lot fewer miles/points than they’ll be selling for once the aircraft is moved on to the Boston and D.C. routes.
