United Airlines Airbus A321XLRs will enter international service on Dec. 1, on flights from Washington Dulles to Amsterdam and Dublin.
The debut was announced as United unveiled an international network expansion for summer 2027, with several routes to be operated by its new long-range narrowbodies including from New York City's Newark Liberty International to: Luxembourg (daily, April 2); Ibiza (4X-weekly, May 31) and Valencia, Spain (3X-weekly, June 2); and Marseille, France (daily, June 4). It will also launch service from Washington Dulles to Toulouse, France (daily, April 26). Overall, the carrier has added 10 new international cities for next year.
“We'll connect customers nonstop to new islands, historic European cities, Mediterranean destinations, and places that until now have typically required one or two connections to get to the United States,” SVP Global Network Planning and Alliances Patrick Quayle said Aug. 25 in announcing the expansion. “And for the first time, some of these destinations will be served by the newest international aircraft joining our fleet, the Airbus A321XLR.”
United’s XLRs are designed to be the most premium-heavy narrowbody airplane in its fleet, featuring 20 Polaris business-class seats, 12 in premium plus, 34 in economy plus and 84 in economy, for a total of 150 seats. The cabin includes new all-aisle access lie-flat United Polaris Studio suites with privacy doors, larger overhead bins, a snack bar in the rear of the economy cabin and one row in economy plus where a permanently fixed table blocks the middle seat.
United took delivery of its first XLR, part of an order for 50, in June. It expects delivery of five more XLRs by year’s end and 15 in 2027, according to a fleet plan detailed this summer. Nodding to the Airbus delivery stream, Quayle said: “We feel confident that we will have the number of aircraft needed in order to operate this schedule.” United feels “very comfortable” with its new routes against the airframe’s stated range. “I feel like we're very conservative with the range of the aircraft,” he said.
In addition to the XLR routes announced, new nonstop services include San Francisco to Okinawa, Japan; Newark to Terceira, Portugal; Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Catania and Olbia, Italy. Newark-Terceira will be served by a Boeing 737-8, and the remainder by widebodies. The routes start as early as March 2027.
“Summer 2027 represents the biggest step we've taken yet in building United's international network, and next year we will serve 53 destinations across the Atlantic and 34 destinations across the Pacific,” Quayle said. “That's more than any airline on Earth across both oceans.”
Meanwhile, the carrier noted the deliveries of its premium A321neo “Coastliners,” are delayed. United previously expected the first of 50 of the type would start service this summer, intended exclusively for transcontinental routes. Its Coastliners will offer the same onboard product as its XLRs, featuring 20 lie-flat Polaris seats.
“We're just waiting on deliveries from Airbus,” Quayle said. “As soon as we get [the aircraft], we will start flying [them].”
United’s A321XLR is scheduled to start flying select domestic routes in September, before transitioning to international service.
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