A First Look At Air Canada's Airbus A321XLR
This week, Air Canada will deploy its first-ever Airbus A321XLR into service, marking an important milestone for the airline.
Recently, the Prince of Travel team was live-on-location for a sneak preview of the aircraft, which is the first to feature Air Canada's new "Glowing Hearted" design standard.
In this article, we'll go through the new A321XLR business class and economy cabins, and touch briefly on the routes and possibilities that these new aircraft will open up.
A First Look at Air Canada's Airbus A321XLR Cabins
In April 2026, Air Canada unveiled its new "Glowing Hearted" cabin design at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. This was the first time that we had a glimpse into what the future of the airline's design standard would actually look like.
With the first Airbus A321XLR set to take flight on commercial flights this week, we had the opportunity to do a walkthrough of the aircraft prior to it entering service.
Air Canada's New A321XLR Business Class
As you step onto the aircraft, you'll notice a maple leaf motif surrounding the ceiling lights, and just below that is a copper Air Canada maple leaf logo at the head of the business class cabin.
From there, you step into the all-new business class cabin, featuring a total of 14 suites spread out across 7 rows in a 1-1 configuration.
Each business class seat sits at an angle, with your feet pointed towards the aisle rather than towards the window.
The seat features a moveable armrest on the right side, as well as another armrest that slides back and forth on the left side. Underneath this is a wireless charging dock, and above is a USB-C outlet.
On the renderings, it also showed a screen behind the wireless dock that showed the time left and had a few controls; however, this wasn't visible during the walkthrough.
As you take your seat, you'll notice a sliding privacy panel by your right shoulder, which opens up (or closes) the view to the adjacent suite. This is also where a reading light can be found.
With your right hand, you're also able to use the push-button controls for the seat (moving the footrest up/down, putting the seat into lie-flat mode, putting it into takeoff position, or putting it into the dining position). There are also three lighting controls above here.
Nearby, you'll find a remote with a noticeably long cord, as well as the headphone jack. Below here is a literature pocket.
The tray table pops out of the wall of the adjacent seat to your left, and it can be manipulated back and forth. There's also one of two coat hooks in the suite near here (the other is at the doorway).
The 19" 4K OLED entertainment screen pops out with the push of a button. It also features Bluetooth wireless technology so you can connect to your own headset.
On the wall of your seat, you'll find a spot for your headphones, as well as two USB-C outlets and an AC power outlet. There's a nice surface space below this for storing items.
As mentioned above, the seats can be turned into full lie-flat beds, and you can also adjust the armrests to allow for a bit more room on either side. Your feet rest on a ledge to the left of the opening to the aisle.
Lastly, you'll notice ample overhead bin space available throughout both the economy and business class cabins.
Air Canada's New Airbus A321XLR Economy
Air Canada has also debuted a new economy design standard on the A321XLR.
Notably, there are 36 Preferred+ seats (at the front of the economy cabin, but also at the exit rows) in the cabin, which features a total of 168 seats. Preferred+ seats are marked with a red trim and Preferred+ stitching on the headrest, and feature extra legroom.
The economy seats are arranged in a 3-3 configuration, with each seat having a 13" 4K OLED screen (with Bluetooth connectivity), a USB-C outlet, a tablet holder, and a bi-fold tray table.
You'll also find seat back storage for your personal items.
First Thoughts on Air Canada's A321XLR
Having now seen Air Canada's new "Glowing Hearted" cabin design, I'm personally a fan of the overall aesthetic. It feels warm and upscale, and I get the sense that a lot of time was spent poring over details at every step along the way.
I've never flown on a long-haul flight on a narrow-body aircraft, so I'll hold out my thoughts on the full in-flight experience until I've had the chance to see it from start to finish on a flight.
Having the business-class seats on an angle will likely take some getting used to (especially since they point toward the aisle). To be fair, it took me a while to get used to seats that face the rear of the aircraft, too, and I imagine it's going to be a similar situation with a lie-flat on a narrow-body.
Overall, I liked the design of the business-class and economy cabins, and I think it's setting a great new standard for Air Canada going forward.
I appreciated details like the same emblem adorned on Aeroplan premium credit cards appearing on the outsides of the suites, or the iridescent red in the seat shell (that becomes much more noticeable when the seat is in lie-flat mode).
It took me a few attempts to not hit my head on the overhead bins when I was getting into the seat, but I'd gladly give up a bit of overhead clearance for the ample amount of storage in the bins.
The economy cabin looks to be a nice upgrade, too, and I imagine the Preferred+ seats will be a popular choice on the longer routes that this aircraft will serve.
Now that we've seen what the new Glowing Hearted design standard has in store, I'm particularly excited to see its implementation on wide-body aircraft.
Plus, I'm very keen to learn more about Air Canada's upcoming soft-product revamp, too, which we'll learn more about later this year.
Once it's in place, I believe Air Canada will have a very strong offering in its Signature Class experience, beginning with the ground experience (in revamped lounges and the Signature Suites), and continuing onward with a new onboard hard and soft product, as well as new routes.
Beyond the previously announced routes that the A321XLR will serve (which are mostly transatlantic routes to "secondary" markets), I'm curious to see where else the airline will deploy them going forward.
Conclusion
This week, Air Canada will launch its first Airbus A321XLR into service. This marks an exciting milestone for the airline, both with its first of these aircraft taking to the skies, but also with the launch of the new Glowing Hearted design standard.
By the end of the year, Air Canada expects to have 5 in service, with a further 25 expected by 2029.
If you're planning out travels with Air Canada, be sure to keep an eye out for the A321XLR and give it a try!
T.J. is curious about everywhere he hasn’t been to yet. Exploring countries by foot and connecting with locals guide his love for travel. Earning and redeeming points to jazz up the experience has become the icing on his travel cake.
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