The woes of airplane middle seats are soon to be eradicated for some United Airlines passengers.
The Chicago-based carrier announced a new type of Economy Plus fare this week that features a fully blocked off middle seat, giving passengers extra elbow room and a shared table between them.
United said it will start selling the new seat option later this year, exclusively on its new Airbus A321XLR aircraft.
“On each XLR, one row will have large, custom-designed tables stretching from armrest to armrest across the open middle seats, giving customers sitting in the window or aisle seat extra space to stretch out on longer international flights,” United said in a press release. “The table is permanently fixed, with a soft leather-like covering, and two indentations for cups.”
The airline noted that “the extra space is in addition to the three inches of additional legroom already offered in Economy Plus on the XLR.”
United says it is currently the only U.S. airline offering the blocked-off middle seat option.
The seat-block option comes four months after United unveiled a new Relax Row option, a row of three economy seats with individually adjustable leg rests that fold up at a 90-degree angle to create a lie-flat sleeping area.
The Relax Row will be outfitted on all of United Boeing 787 and 777 widebody aircraft, starting with 90 planes at launch in 2027.