United Airlines today announced a new option for economy class: a row of Economy Plus seats on its new Airbus A321XLR aircraft with the middle seat in a triple left vacant, giving customers additional elbow room and access to a shared table across the empty middle seat.
On each XLR, one row of seats in the economy section will have large, custom-designed tables stretching from armrest to armrest across the open middle seats in the 3-3 cabin configuration, giving customers sitting in the window or aisle seats extra space to stretch out on longer international flights.
The table is permanently fixed, with a soft leather-like surface, and two indentations for holding cups. This extra elbow space is in addition to the three inches of additional legroom already offered in Economy Plus on the XLR, and 13-inch 4K IFE displays.
This type of seating is familiar from the European market, where it is sometimes dubbed ‘Eurobiz’, operated by airlines such as British Airways with its Club Europe short-haul business-class service for UK and European flights. United has said it expects to be the only US-based airline that will offer this seating option.
This new Economy Plus option will go on sale later this year, and is expected to be included on United’s entire order of 50 A321XLRs. The airline is also exploring fitting this seat option on other aircraft types in its fleet in the future.
United plans to offer its first domestic flights on the new A321XLRs in the autumn / fall season, with international services expected to begin by early 2027. The airline will share more information about the new product, including pricing, before it goes on sale.
If you’re interested in A321XLRs, Aircraft Interiors International recently tried out Air Canada’s cabin.
