UNITED AIRLINES: WTF! Adds European Business class rows to 321XLRs

Oddly, that is not how United Airlines is promoting this ‘innovation’. They are adding the curse of European Business Class blocked-off centre seats. British Airways call this arrangement ‘Club Europe’. United is promoting it as ‘Economy Plus Seats with Extra Elbow Room. They should hang their heads in shame!

A321XLR ‘special row’

All of United’s 50 new Airbus A321XLR aircraft will now have a row in Economy Plus, with a blocked-off middle seat, promoted as ‘shared spaces with large custom tables.’ Problem is, that looks remarkably like the hated British Airways European Business Class, the worst Business Class in Europe.

United is hoping to be the only US airline offering this as a seating option, and I think I can speak for all avgeeks and say, we hope so too.

The new Economy Plus option will be for sale later in 2026.

Even worse

It’s planning to offer this option on other types of aircraft in the future. Does this mean that some of its aircraft will have an economy choice as confusing as the choice Lufthansa is offering in its Business Class with a squillion different seating options?

Remember that United has introduced ‘Relax Row’, which allows you to turn three seats into a ‘couch’. Thanks for that innovation, Air New Zealand!

‘On each XLR, one row will have large, custom-designed tables stretching from armrest to armrest across the open middle seats, giving customers sitting in the window or aisle seat extra space to stretch out on longer international flights. The table is permanently fixed, with a soft leather-like covering, and two indentations for cups. And the extra space is in addition to the three inches of additional legroom already offered in Economy Plus on the XLR.

From the United media release

Pricing, well that’s being kept a secret for now. You will have to wait until they offer for sale, it seems.

United’s A321XLR

United is planning a ‘new level of comfort and style’ for passengers on international short- to medium-haul routes. This aeroplane has 32 premium seats and new all-aisle-access United Polaris Studio suites with privacy doors. These come equipped with a large 4K OLED screen with Bluetooth connectivity. Depending on the cabin you book, you will get 19″ in Polaris, 16″ in Premium Plus and 13″ in Economy.

United plans to offer its first domestic flights on the new A321XLR later this northern hemisphere Autumn, with international service expected to begin by early 2027.

2PAXfly Takeout

For those triggered by European Business Class blocked seating (including me), take heart. This will be offered as an Economy option, not as Business Class. Phew!

Seriously, It could be a good option as a sort of surrogate Premium Economy on long haul. We don’t have a published seat width for the Economy seat range on the United A321XLRs, but Qantas is running theirs at 17.6″ (44.7 cm), so something less than 18″ seems likely. And that, believe it or not, is considered generous in economy.