My review of Iberia A321XLR business class

After soaking up the sun in the Dominican Republic for a week, it’s time to head back to the UK! This return journey is quite special, and the main reason I picked this itinerary was actually the aircraft: the very new A321XLR from Airbus, which is still quite rare worldwide.

Frequent flyers will recognise from the name that this is a narrow-body aircraft. Despite that, its range is impressive – over 8,000 km- allowing it to operate many medium- and long-haul routes. The real game-changing aspect of the A321XLR is that long-haul flights will no longer be dominated by wide-body aircraft; for routes with lower demand, this type can significantly reduce costs.

Iberia is the launch customer for the A321XLR (alongside airlines like American Airlines and Aer Lingus now), and already operates it on routes such as Boston. Santo Domingo seems to be a newer addition, with two daily flights – one operated by an A330 and the other by the A321XLR. The choice was obvious.

For booking, I used my last American Express companion voucher. Two tickets for Santo Domingo – Madrid (business) – London (economy) cost a total of 57,000 Avios + £281.20. That’s just how generous Iberia redemptions can be.

In Santo Domingo, Iberia uses Sky The Lounge. It’s not accessible with Priority Pass, so it was pleasantly quiet.

However, the food was quite poor. The menu looked extensive when scanned via QR code, but only one dish (gnocchi) was actually complimentary. Buffet was near non-existent.

Even drinks had to be ordered through staff, though at least cocktails were available. Anyway, time to board!

Let’s start with a few impressions of the business class cabin:

As expected for long-haul operations, the cabin is configured to a high standard: a 1-1 layout, with just two seats per row.

That means every seat is a window seat, and there’s no need to worry about aisle access. If travelling as a pair, the left and right seats in the same row work best for conversation, though there’s still some distance between you.

The seat is the Thompson VantageSOLO design, a mix between a herringbone and a suite concept. It’s angled, which makes it look narrow at first glance, but in reality, it feels perfectly spacious.

The tray table slides out with a button, though not particularly smoothly.

A standard amenity kit is provided: eye mask, socks, earplugs, and basic toiletries.

There are power outlets and USB charging ports within easy reach.

One advantage of this relatively sparse layout is the excellent storage space. There’s plenty of room above your head, as well as around the seat and on the side tables.

Although the flight time is only about eight hours, it’s a red-eye, so I managed to get some sleep.

Sleep quality was actually very good: comfortable and, importantly, very quiet. Before I knew it, we were already approaching landing.

I also took a quick look at the economy cabin behind:

The screens are embedded and need to be stowed for take-off and landing, but you can still keep watching. So at least it’s not like British Airways’s old Club World.

The entertainment selection wasn’t very extensive, almost identical to what I had on BA a few days ago, just with Spanish TV shows replacing BBC ones.

Here’s a look at the menu:

I had chicken breast and the prawns.

One “feature” of Iberia is the small food portion sizes – I still remember nearly starving on a flight to Argentina a few years ago!

Another indirect advantage of a smaller aircraft is faster boarding and disembarkation. Within minutes, I was already in Madrid’s T4S terminal for my connection.

I originally tried to access the Iberia lounge, but was refused entry at the desk. Based on my understanding, since my previous long-haul leg was in business class, I should still have been eligible even though the next leg was economy.

In the end, I used Priority Pass to enter the Neptuno lounge instead.

Surprisingly, this third-party lounge turned out to be excellent, very spacious and bright.

The food offering was also impressive: even early in the morning there was fried rice, noodles, and chicken soup.

There was even a fresh orange juice machine. Honestly, it felt better than Iberia’s own lounge.

That wraps up my first experience on the A321XLR. What do you think? Personally, I’m very satisfied, and it’s not just because it’s new. The smaller passenger load is already a big advantage, and the hard product is fully comparable to wide-body aircraft. Hopefully we’ll see more of this aircraft type in the future, and get more chances to fly it!