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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
Aer Lingus has a uniquely positioned product with AerSpace – it's sort of marketed as premium economy, though sometimes you get a plane with their longhaul business class configuration. I'd struggle to give this product any other rating on a flight like this, given that it's got an exponentially better hard product compared to the competition, while being priced cheaper |
5.0
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In January 2026, I flew Aer Lingus’ A321XLR from London to Dublin. Aer Lingus primarily flies A320s and A320neos intra-Europe, which feature a very standard intra-European onboard configuration – the first row sort of mimics intra-European business class, as it’s economy class with a blocked middle seat. I flew Aer Lingus’ AerSpace for the first time in 2024, and reviewed this flight here.
Aer Lingus also operates some narrowbody aircraft intra-Europe that they primarily use on longhaul routes. These are their new A321XLRs, which primarily connect Dublin with secondary cities in the U.S. East Coast. Due to aircraft utilisation opportunities, these planes are sometimes used on shorthaul routes as well.
So, how was it? On one hand, I really like Aer Lingus’ business class seat, and I’d 100% seek out this product over flying AerSpace on a “normal” regionally configured aircraft, or intra-European business class on another airline. The price premium is much lower than you’d get for standard intra-European business class, and I’d say you get an overall much better product. On the other hand, the flight is so short that there’s really no time to enjoy a business class seat, and I think I’ll book economy next time unless the price difference is minimal (which could be the case if I need a bag).
This was a difficult flight to review, as I was asked to stop taking photos of the interior of the aircraft shortly after I boarded (I took this interpretation loosely and continued to photograph elements of the soft product, which the crew didn’t seem to mind as much). So apologies if the photos aren’t as extensive as in my usual reviews.
Booking Aer Lingus’ A321XLR AerSpace
Aer Lingus doesn’t allow points redemptions for their AerSpace cabin (even with Aer Lingus’ own Avios), so the only way you can pay for this product is with cash. My flight cost £189.25 (HK$2,020) one-way – this isn’t a crazy discounted fare, though is generally cheaper than what you’d get when paying outright for intra-European business class. Then again, one of the unspoken rules we hold to at The Alviator is never to pay for full-fare intra-European business class.
As you can see, the cheapest fare bucket is half of what AerSpace cost for my flight, but I would’ve had to check my bag. I suppose I wouldn’t have minded that much. However, it’s more expensive to bring a carry-on bag, and by the time you need a flexible ticket, the price difference with AerSpace decreases by quite a bit.
The AerSpace fare comes with a checked bag, a carry-on bag, and lounge access – do note that you “only” get 20 kg of checked baggage, which is below what you might expect for an otherwise quite business class-like experience. While the “extras” section mentions fast-track security, the information hover explains that this is only available at Dublin Airport. Stay tuned on whether that was the case.
Generally, Aer Lingus doesn’t charge any more for this flight (operated with their longhaul cabin) as they do on their other fleet, even though the hard product is exponentially better. So if you can seek out a flight operated by the A321neo, I’d recommend you go for it. Just click “Flight Details”, and make sure the flight is operated by an A321neo.
Alternatively, you can search on Google Flights, search for premium economy flights (that’s what Google Flights files AerSpace under), and ensure that the seat type is listed as a “Lie-flat seat”.
Aer Lingus AerSpace Ground Experience at Heathrow Airport
My Aer Lingus experience began at Heathrow Airport. Aer Lingus allows advance check-in for up to 15 days before departure, which I was able to do with no issues.
Security was quick, though I ran into a few teething issues, such as being selected for secondary screening both for a pat-down (where my shoes were re-screened), and my bag was also selected for random screening. I attempted to use the Fast Track lane, though Heathrow has started to crack down on Aer Lingus AerSpace passengers using the Fast Track lane – despite there explicitly being an Aer Lingus logo on the signage, I was turned back, having to do the “walk of shame” back to the regular security line. (I figured this would happen, though decided to experiment and ask just in case.) I believe that Aer Lingus frequent fliers are entitled to fast-track security, but AerSpace passengers aren’t, as it’s “only” sold as extra-legroom economy.
Once I got through security, I headed through to the Aer Lingus lounge. Sadly it was a bit too crowded for me to be comfortable reviewing it, though there’s a much higher density of furniture compared to my last visit.
Aer Lingus Lounge at Heathrow Airport
The food spread consisted of the basic components of an English breakfast (porridge, granola and yoghurt, eggs, bacon, beans, toast, and sausage), though they were all executed fairly well. The lounge does do barista coffee, though I found my coffee to be mediocre.
Aer Lingus Lounge at Heathrow Airport Coffee
At around 9 AM, I headed down to gate A21, to meet the aircraft that would be taking me to Dublin. My mobile boarding pass only stated when boarding closed (a rather early time of 9:25 AM ahead of a 9:50 AM flight), so I knew we’d be boarding ahead of that. As a side note, Heathrow T2’s windows are extremely filthy and in need of a clean.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Heathrow Airport
There were two boarding lanes, one of which was dedicated to AerSpace, AerClub elite members, and connecting business class passengers. Boarding first began with people needing assistance, and was shortly followed by Group 1. We were boarded as the doors to the jetbridge were still closed, and hung round for around 5-10 minutes, before the doors automatically opened.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Boarding Gate at Heathrow Airport
There was then a further 5-minute wait once we got to the aircraft doors – perhaps this cut the overall boarding process time by a couple of minutes? Anyhow, I appreciated the vantage point that I got of the Aer Lingus A321XLR from where I was standing.
Aer Lingus A321XLR at Heathrow Airport
Aer Lingus Flight EI155
Monday, January 26, 2026
Origin: London Heathrow (LHR) T: 2Gate: A21 Dep: 09:50 (09:45)
Destination: Dublin (DUB) T: 2 Gate: Bus Arr: 11:15 (11:05)
Duration: 1 h 25 min (1 h 20 min)
Aircraft: Airbus A321XLR Reg: EI-XLU
Seat: 5A (AerSpace)
I was welcomed onboard by a flight attendant, and headed over to my seat. As I mentioned this wasn’t my best luck with photos – for the first time in 13 years, I was told during the boarding process that I wasn’t allowed to take photos. (At this point I had already taken a few, which are shown below.)
Aer Lingus A321XLR AerSpace Cabin and Seat
Aer Lingus’ A321XLR features 16 business class seats, laid out across five rows. This is the Thompson Aero Vantage seat, which you’ll find on many older-generation widebody aircraft (such as JAL/Delta’s 767s), as well as some narrowbody aircraft, such as FlyDubai and SAS. I believe I experienced a very similar narrowbody product on Singapore Airlines’ 737 MAX.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Cabin
As you can see, these are staggered seats, which means that each seat is not “in line” with the seats in front and behind. In the even rows (2, 4, 6 – row 1 doesn’t exist) you’ll find pairs of seats, as shown below. These seats are great if you’re travelling in a couple, though otherwise you don’t get direct aisle access.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Twin Seats
Meanwhile, rows 3 and 5 feature “throne” seats, where you get direct aisle access and much more shoulder space. These don’t cost anything extra to assign, so I was very happy to snag one of these throne seats onboard my flight. The catch is that the footwell is a bit smaller, though obviously that wasn’t much of an issue on my 1h flight.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class “Throne” Seats
As you’d expect for an aircraft that operates multiple transatlantic routes, these seats recline into flat beds. In this case there was no pillow or blanket provided, though the bed itself felt comfortable, and not too restrictive, even by my feet.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Bed and Footwell
There were two sets of seat controls. The controls for the seat’s recline and fold-up legrest were by elbow-height on my right, whereas there was a separate panel specifically just controlling lumbar support, which was located directly to my right by my head. I wouldn’t call the seat’s massage function effective, though it was helpful to have some control over the seat’s lumbar support.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Seat Controls
I was happy with the storage available at my throne seat. All seats feature a netted storage compartment in front of the seat, suitable for a phone, AirPods, or glasses.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Storage Pocket
The little nook for small items by my head was also available at all seats (you’ll also spot USB-A and USB-C charging here, which I appreciated).
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Nook, Reading Light, USB and USB-C
As one of the four “throne” seats on the aircraft, I had some additional storage space. To my right was a large storage compartment that came with a mirror. This would’ve been big enough for a laptop, a camera, or even a small bag.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Storage Compartment
Then to my left was what I’d best describe as a shoe compartment. I was permitted to store my laptop here during takeoff and landing, despite signage saying that I shouldn’t do so.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Storage Compartment
These throne seats also come with endless surface space. There was a huge side console to my left, as well as a smaller one to my right. I can imagine these spaces would come in very handy on longer flights, if I needed to place a laptop somewhere while eating/heading to the bathroom.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Storage Surfaces
A bi-fold tray table could be deployed from the console to my right, and was sturdy and easy enough to use.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Table
On a transatlantic flight, I’d say that there are later and greater seats out there (especially since only 25% of seats in the cabin have direct aisle access and nobody climbing over them). However, this is undoubtedly one of the best seats you can get flying intra-Europe, especially if you can snag a throne seat.
While I wasn’t able to photograph the economy class cabin this time round, you’ll also get an all-round upgraded experience there. Seats have adjustable headrests and PTV screens, and are generally much more comfortable to sit in than their low-cost carrier style A320neos. The difference is much smaller than in the AerSpace cabin, though, where you’d otherwise just get the same uncomfortable economy class seats with the middle seat blocked.
Taking off from Heathrow Airport
Apart from the (hugely) upgraded seat, AerSpace doesn’t come with many other ground perks. Boarding was completed in just under half an hour, and we were ready for pushback at around 9:40 AM, 10 minutes before departure. The captain came onto the PA to announce our flight time of approximately an hour, and mentioned the subpar weather conditions (we were flying just before Storm Chandra hit Dublin, which wasn’t particularly fun for Dublin Aviation Week). This was followed by a manual safety demonstration – despite the fact that there were screens at each seat, there wasn’t a safety video.
Upon pushing back, I had a better view of the JetBlue A321neo parked next to us (hi!).
JetBlue A321neo at Heathrow Airport
While I’m not sure what Aer Lingus’ protocol is on longer flights, on this short flight, the inflight entertainment system wasn’t actually activated until we got off the ground. This shortened an already-short time where one could enjoy a movie, though it’s not like they provided headphones for these screens anyway. My A321XLR did come with Bluetooth audio connectivity, which meant that I could connect my AirPods to the entertainment system – however, the route is usually operated by an A321LR (which features a similar seat, but slightly older tech), and I don’t think those planes have IFE screens with Bluetooth audio.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Screen
It was a busy morning at Heathrow Airport, and despite pushing back 10 minutes early, we weren’t airborne until 10:05 AM. We took off on runway 09R (I’m bummed that I didn’t manage to photograph the Riyadh Air 787 I spotted taking off, as it was my first time seeing one of those aircraft in action).
Traffic at Heathrow Airport
Our takeoff roll happened at about 10:05 AM. While it was too foggy to have any meaningful views over the city (since we were departing from runway 09R), I did have great views over Heathrow’s terminals 2, 3 and 5 from the left side of the aircraft.
Taking off at Heathrow Airport
We then made a right turn in order to head towards Dublin.
Aer Lingus A321XLR AerSpace Entertainment System
After we reached roughly 10,000 feet, the entertainment system was activated. I found the entertainment system interface to be intuitive, and there was a surprising number of movies uploaded, as well as entire seasons of TV shows.
Do note that you’ll either need a two-pronged headphone adapter or Bluetooth-enabled headphones in order to use the entertainment system, if you’re flying on a shorthaul flight. You’ll be provided headphones on a longhaul flight, though Aer Lingus doesn’t provide headphones on shorthaul flights (since most of their shorthaul aircraft don’t have PTVs, it’s not included in the overall product offering – you can’t even purchase it). Furthermore, I was flying one of Aer Lingus’ new A321XLRs – I don’t think their “standard” A321LRs (introduced back in 2019) have Bluetooth audio within their entertainment system, and they’re used interchangeably on intra-European routes.
In this case I had my AirPods on me, so was able to use the entertainment system (connecting was easy).
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Entertainment System
I ended up deciding to watch a little bit of Downton Abbey. Perhaps I was a bit sleep deprived (and I don’t generally watch TV shows – watching anything at all is something J is trying to slowly fold into my life), though I wasn’t sure I was able to hugely invest in the plotline? It probably didn’t help that I was also trying to review a 1h flight with a meal service at the same time, and was also trying to get some networking done ahead of meetings in Dublin.
Aer Lingus A321XLR AerSpace WiFi
Aer Lingus’ A321XLRs have WiFi onboard, and it was available on this flight, despite the flight length. Now, I’m not as much a fan of the WiFi pricing on these shorthaul flights, as they were using the same prices as they’d otherwise offer longhaul:
- A 1-hour messaging pass cost €3.49 (£3.02/HK$33)
- A full-flight messaging pass cost €5.99 (£5.19/HK$56)
- A 4-hour browsing pass cost €13.49 (£11.69/HK$126)
- A full-flight browsing pass cost €20.49 (£17.76/HK$191)
In contrast, a British Airways flight I took earlier in the year charged less than £2 for full-flight browsing WiFi. I reckon the airline should at least offer free messaging on shorthaul flights (to match the competition), and there was no way on earth I was paying £11.70 for less than an hour of browsing time. At least the messaging pass worked well, presumably as nobody else was paying £3 to stay connected for 45 minutes.
Aer Lingus A321XLR AerSpace Catering
Aer Lingus offers its AerSpace passengers free drinks, as well as one free food item from their Bia buy-on-board menu. I’d heard good things about their Irish breakfast, though figured that they might not have it on such a short flight. As it turns out, London to Dublin flights sometimes do have Irish breakfasts loaded, though mine didn’t (so it’s still worth asking if you’re flying the London-Dublin route in AerSpace soon).
Instead, they were offering some cold sandwiches and wraps. I asked for a salt and chilli chicken wrap, which was decent (and while still mild in spiciness, more so than I was expecting).
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Meal
They also come by with tea, coffee, and drinks of choice. When I asked for a coffee, I was asked whether I wanted a latte, cappuccino, or americano. Being hopeful that the A321XLR was equipped with an espresso-based coffee machine, I decided to ask for a latte and see what happened.
Turns out these were just Costa sachets of instant coffee powder, and they were terrible at that – I wasn’t provided a stirrer, and there were some sticky lumps on the top of the coffee. I tried to down the coffee as it was a turbulent flight, though it didn’t go down easy.
Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class Coffee
I wouldn’t expect too much more from an intra-European premium product anyway (and actually would’ve been quite impressed if I had received an Irish breakfast), though perhaps don’t get a coffee on your next AerSpace flight.
While I’m still not a fan of the fact that the crew incorrectly demanded me to stop taking photos (I can count the number of times I’ve experienced this on one hand in my 150+ flight reviews), the crew were otherwise friendly and eager to please, and I have no other complaints. I appreciated that they went out of their way to try and find me an Irish breakfast.
Landing into Dublin Airport
After letting my tired brain try and digest Downton Abbey for a short while, the captain came onto the PA, saying that we were cruising at 34,000 feet and were expecting to land at 11 AM. Because of the turbulence onboard, the seatbelt sign actually was never turned off throughout the flight – the crew just didn’t stop people from getting up and using the bathroom.
As you’d expect the day before a big storm, weather in Dublin wasn’t particularly pleasing on this late Monday morning.
Landing into Dublin Airport
So I wasn’t particularly thrilled when we parked at a bus gate, which we got to at 11:05 AM, after landing on runway 30L and taxiing for just over five minutes. AerSpace passengers don’t get a separate bus, so we just waited in the bus as it filled up with other passengers.
Aer Lingus A321XLR at Dublin Airport
I did enjoy the traffic at Dublin Airport, though, as it was my first time passing through this airport. I particularly enjoyed seeing the large number of Aer Lingus widebodies, which I don’t normally see at other airports.
Aer Lingus A330 at Dublin Airport
Immigration was painless, and I took the Aircoach into the city (I found it insane that nobody guards the bags in the hold while the bus is being boarded/at each station, though my bag did make it safely).
Conclusion: Aer Lingus A321XLR AerSpace
Regardless of what the soft product is like, Aer Lingus’ A321XLR is a very comfortable way to fly intra-Europe. It’s always a treat when you fly a longhaul-configured plane on a shorthaul route, and that’s especially true within Europe, where intra-European business class has the worst average hard product out of any industry. The soft product doesn’t match up to other intra-European business class products, though Aer Lingus doesn’t even typically market this product as business class (it’s priced substantially lower, and shows up as “premium economy” on online travel tools such as Google Flights), so I don’t think it would be fair to compare.
I’m not sure I’d swing the extra cost every time I head up to Dublin, especially since economy on this particular plane is also very nice. There’s barely any time to enjoy the product on these hops from Dublin to London and/or Paris. However, it’s also priced lower than virtually any other intra-European business class product, so this might be a very good-value product if you were going to fly business class anyway. It’s a shame that there aren’t any mileage redemption opportunities for AerSpace, though.
Have you flown Aer Lingus’ A321XLR within Europe before? Or to America? Either way, how was your experience?
