Whats up from Eire, as I’ve simply accomplished the outbound portion of my fast Aer Lingus & Iberia A321XLR journey. To kick off this journey, I flew Aer Lingus’ Airbus A321XLR enterprise class on the 6hr50min flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to Dublin (DUB), on the jet with the license plate EI-XLR (hah!). I booked this ticket for 50,000 Avios.
The first cause I took this particular flight is to fly the A321XLR, the longest vary slender physique industrial jet in manufacturing, which solely commenced operations in latest months. I’ll share extra ideas on flying the A321XLR as such in a future submit, after additionally taking the return, in order that I’ve time to kind a full opinion on the jet. Within the meantime, let’s deal with the Aer Lingus enterprise class expertise.
I discovered Aer Lingus’ enterprise class product to be nice, however not way more. Like, I wouldn’t keep away from it sooner or later, however I additionally wouldn’t search it out. On the plus aspect, I appreciated the drastically improved tech, the very pleasant service, and the great pillow and blanket. Nevertheless, I’d in any other case describe this as one of many extra no frills enterprise class merchandise on the market, by way of eating, facilities, and many others.
Under I’ll share some preliminary ideas, after which quickly I’ll publish my full journey report.
Aer Lingus’ A321XLR enterprise class seats are a blended bag
Despite the fact that the A321XLR is a model new airplane, Aer Lingus has chosen to take care of the identical common enterprise class laborious product it has all through its lengthy haul fleet, together with on the A330s and A321LR. The enterprise class cabin has 16 staggered seats, alternating between a 2-2 and 1-1 format, primarily based on the Thompson Aero Vantage platform.
For those who’re fortunate and e book far sufficient upfront, you may snag one of many 4 “throne” seats, that are particular person seats that imply you don’t have a neighbor.
In the meantime 12 passengers will find yourself in a pair of seats, doubtlessly seated subsequent to somebody. And half of these individuals received’t have direct aisle entry, whereas the opposite half of individuals will doubtlessly have somebody stepping over them.
When reclined, Aer Lingus’ A321XLR enterprise class seats flip into 77″ flat beds.
Fairly truthfully, I’m a little bit confused by why Aer Lingus didn’t select to go together with a brand new type enterprise class product with direct aisle entry from each seat. The throne seats are in fact fairly good, and the pairs of seats are most well-liked by some if touring with a companion.
Nevertheless, 75% of passengers find yourself with a seat mate, and that doesn’t appear superb for these touring alone. I suppose Aer Lingus has extra leisure vacationers than another full service transatlantic airways, so possibly that’s simply what prospects need. I didn’t get a throne seat this time round, so I used to be in one of many pairs of seats. Happily my flight was fairly empty, so I had your entire final row to myself.
Aer Lingus’ A321XLR leisure & tech are nice
Previous to taking supply of A321XLRs, Aer Lingus already flew (and continues to fly) A321LRs. The “bones” of the seats are the identical, however the know-how has been considerably improved, in order that’s nice. These days I’d argue that’s the most important development we’re seeing in premium cabins.
Aer Lingus’ A321XLRs have 18″ 4K extremely excessive definition screens in enterprise class, that are fairly spiffy.
Not solely is the {hardware} nice, however I discovered the leisure system to be very easy to make use of and really responsive, and there was additionally bluetooth audio pairing, in order that passengers might use their very own headphones.
I additionally discovered Aer Lingus’ leisure choice to be big, with a whole lot of flicks and TV reveals, and principally trendy titles. I don’t bear in mind it being that good previously, so I’m comfortable to see that. Vacationers shouldn’t have any issues staying entertained with what’s provided onboard.
On high of that, the A321XLRs have AC energy shops, in addition to USB-A and USB-C shops, so there’s no scarcity of charging alternatives. It doesn’t appear to be the USB ports are 60W, in order that they cost a bit slower than electronics on another airways, particularly if attempting to make use of these for a laptop computer.
The one unfavorable concerning the leisure onboard is that the flight was imagined to have Wi-Fi, but it surely was damaged on this flight. I recognize that the airline despatched out an e-mail to passengers informing them of this a couple of hours earlier than takeoff.
Aer Lingus enterprise class has good bedding, okay amenity kits
Whereas there’s not a mattress pad, or something like that, Aer Lingus does provide a pillow and blanket which are very a lot to my liking. The pillow was actually thick, and since I had the final row to myself, I might create a little bit of a pillow fort. The blanket was additionally substantial and gentle, with out being overly heat. Due to particular person air nozzles, heat additionally wasn’t an issue.
So far as the amenity package goes, it was tremendous, however possibly a little bit on the essential aspect. I’m not somebody who cares all that a lot about amenity kits, however this isn’t precisely a collector’s merchandise.
Aer Lingus’ enterprise class catering does the trick
I’d describe Aer Lingus’ transatlantic enterprise class meal service as being enough however unmemorable (which maybe sums up the expertise general?). Most transatlantic flights to Dublin are fairly fast, so for a lot of passengers, the precedence is to maximise relaxation.
Dinner was served after takeoff, and that began with a spherical of drinks, plus pecorino and rosemary “drink biscuits” with balsamic. That must be one of many extra attention-grabbing drink accompaniments I’ve seen on a airplane. The airline additionally has some pre-made cocktails, so I had a Chipper’s Previous Long-established, which I loved.
There was a alternative of two starters, and I opted for the “saffron poached prawns and mizen lettuce on a carrot ginger puree, garnished with vibrant pickled purple onions.” Kudos to the individual writing the descriptions for these menus… I wouldn’t need to be consuming non-vibrant pickled purple onions! The starter tasted good, and was most likely the perfect a part of the meal, and I believed the presentation was surprisingly nice for a pre-plated airplane dish.
There have been three selections for the principle course, and I opted for the vegetarian possibility, which was golden tofu in a frivolously spiced massaman vegetable curry with blanched pak choi and jasmine rice (see, I didn’t get the fish dish — you’re welcome!). It wasn’t significantly flavorful, although it wasn’t dangerous both.
Lastly, there was the selection of dessert or cheese (or each), and I chosen each, for the image, in fact. The dessert was a vanilla custard and cinnamon apple tart with a crunchy vanilla bottle crumble, after which the cheese board had manchego and gouda cheese, crackers, and chutney.
I’ve to provide big credit score to the senior cabin attendant, Ross, who was working enterprise class on this flight. Not solely was he pleasant, however gosh did he work laborious, and was he environment friendly.
Aer Lingus has 4 flight attendants on the A321XLR, so ordinarily you may have one devoted to enterprise class, two devoted to financial system, and one which helps out in enterprise class at occasions, however is in any other case in financial system. As a result of the load was gentle on this flight, Ross labored enterprise class all on his personal.
He served your entire meal in roughly the primary hour of the flight, which was merely a tremendous velocity, given what number of issues that entailed. And it’s not like he simply plopped issues down, however he checked on individuals, provided drink refills and made proactive drink suggestions (“how a few glass of port with dessert?”), promptly cleared plates, and many others.
Working each the galley and aisle isn’t straightforward, even when there aren’t that many passengers, so kudos to him. For instance, I even noticed him taking a material and ensuring that ingesting glasses have been spotless previous to serving drinks out of them. So kudos to him. Many airways wrestle to serve a drink inside an hour of takeoff, whereas he served your entire meal.
Backside line
I’m comfortable I had the prospect to fly Aer Lingus’ new A321XLR. The airplane provides a really related expertise to the service’s A321LR enterprise class, with some materials tech upgrades, from the leisure, to the bluetooth audio, to the charging ports.
Not having direct aisle entry is a deal breaker for some, although it wasn’t a difficulty for me, because of the gentle load, which meant I had a pair of seats. I additionally know that some {couples} like that sort of seating association.
In the end Aer Lingus is someplace in the course of the pack on the subject of high quality in enterprise class, from the meals, to the facilities. The airline checks a lot of the bins, however is a bit on the essential aspect, and non-fussy. Like I mentioned, I wouldn’t hesitate to fly Aer Lingus once more if the fare or schedule have been proper, however I additionally wouldn’t search out the airline.
What’s your tackle Aer Lingus’ A321XLR enterprise class?
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