TAP Air Portugal A321LR Seat Selection Guide (2026)
✈️ Quick Verdict
Aircraft: Airbus A321LR — 171 seats, 16 lie-flat Business + 155 Economy
Layout: Business staggered — rows 1, 3 and 5 are A C | D F, rows 2 and 4 are B and E alone · Economy 3-3, rows 6–31
The thing that makes this aircraft: it is the only TAP narrowbody with real lie-flat Business. The A321neo, A320neo and A321ceo all sell a blocked-middle economy seat instead
Best seats — Business: 2B, 2E, 4B and 4E — the four throne seats, each with its own aisle and nobody to climb over
Best seats — economy: rows 8, 9 and 12 — the three rows rated green across all six seats. Row 12 is the exit row
Seats to avoid: 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D — rated red despite being EconomyXtra · 22A and 22F, extra legroom and no window · rows 30 and 31 at the rear lavatories
EconomyXtra: rows 6–12 at 33in pitch against 31in standard
IFE: Panasonic eX3, gate to gate · Wi-Fi: Panasonic eXConnect Ku-band, 10–40 Mbps
This is not the same aircraft as the other TAP A321s
TAP flies a lot of A320-family metal and most of it is interchangeable. The A321neo comes in three layouts at 216, 218 and 221 seats, the A321ceo matches the smallest of them, and none of them has a fixed Business cabin at all — what TAP sells as Business on those aircraft is the front of a single economy cabin with the middle seat blocked and a curtain drawn behind it.
The A321LR is the exception. It has a separate, fixed, sixteen-seat Business cabin in which every seat is a lie-flat bed, and it is the aircraft TAP uses to fly narrowbody transatlantic sectors to North America and Brazil. If you have booked TAP Business on a narrowbody before and got a normal economy seat with an empty space beside you, this is the aircraft where that does not happen.
It is also rare. TAP flies a single 171-seat A321LR layout, and the type is a small part of the TAP narrowbody fleet — so the version lottery here is not between two cabins on the same type, it is whether you get this aircraft at all on a route the A321neo also flies.
Business: a stagger, and four of the sixteen are thrones
The cabin is a 2-2 stagger over five rows, and the row shape alternates.
| Rows | Seats | What they are |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 3, 5 | Four — A C | D F | A and F are window seats; C and D are the aisle seats. To leave an A or F seat you go past your neighbour |
| 2, 4 | Two — B and E | The throne seats. Each sits inboard on its own, with the aisle beside it and nobody to climb over |
2B, 2E, 4B and 4E are the four seats to want, and they are the only ones in the cabin with direct aisle access. All four are rated green. If you are travelling alone in Business on this aircraft and any of the four is available, take it and stop looking.
If you are travelling as a pair, the A/C and D/F pairs in rows 1, 3 and 5 sit together properly — the window passenger simply steps past the aisle passenger to get out.
The two Business seats to refuse
5A and 5C are rated red. The mid-cabin lavatory stands immediately behind them, which on an overnight transatlantic sector means the door, the light and the queue for the whole flight. 5D carries the same lavatory note without the red rating. Row 5 is the last Business row, so this is the back of the cabin and it is the one place in it with a real problem.
1D is amber — the forward galley is ahead of it, so expect noise and light during the meal service.
Economy: the first extra-legroom row is the worst one
Economy runs rows 6 to 31, 3-3, lettered A B C | D E F. TAP sells rows 6 to 12 as EconomyXtra at 33 inches of pitch against 31 inches standard — forty-two seats, the front seven rows of the cabin.
Row 6 is the first of those seven rows, and four of its six seats are rated red. It is the bulkhead, so it has the legroom, and it is the row a booking map will show you first when you filter for extra space. But the mid-cabin lavatory sits on the left-hand side directly against it: 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D all carry a lavatory-immediately-adjacent note, 6D sits in the queuing traffic as well, and there is no underseat storage anywhere in the row because of the bulkhead in front.
6E and 6F escape it — they are on the other side of the aisle from the lavatory and are rated amber rather than red. If you end up in row 6, those are the two seats to take.
Row 7 is better but not clean — 7A, 7B and 7C carry a lavatory-traffic note. Rows 8, 9 and 12 are rated green across all six seats, and they are the three rows in the cabin with nothing at all recorded against them.
| Row | EconomyXtra? | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Yes | 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D rated red — lavatory immediately adjacent, no underseat storage. 6E and 6F are amber and are the only two worth taking |
| 7 | Yes | Mixed. 7E and 7F green; 7A, 7B and 7C sit in lavatory traffic |
| 8 | Yes | Green throughout. The pick of the EconomyXtra block |
| 9 | Yes | Green throughout |
| 10 | Yes | Four green, but 10A and 10F have misaligned windows |
| 11 | Yes | Amber throughout — this is the row ahead of the exit and it does not fully recline |
| 12 | Yes | Green throughout, and it is the overwing exit row — legroom, recline and no recorded drawback |
Row 12 is the best seat in economy on this aircraft and row 8 is the best one that is not an exit row.
The second exit pair, and the two windowless seats inside it
There are two exit pairs on the A321LR, not one. Rows 12 and 13 sit at the overwing doors, and rows 21 and 22 sit at door L4 further back. The second pair is the one to be careful about.
Door L4 curves into the space at 21A, 21F, 22A and 22F. Row 22 carries extra legroom and has no D seat — 22E has nobody beside it as a result. And 22A and 22F have no window at all: wall only.
That combination — extra legroom, exit row, blank wall — is the single most misleading pair of seats on the aircraft. A booking map shows them as extra-legroom window seats and they are extra-legroom seats against a wall. If you want row 22, take 22B, 22C or 22E.
The back of the cabin
Rows 30 and 31 sit against the rear lavatories and are rated red across all twelve seats. Row 31 does not recline at all — the wall is directly behind it — and 31C and 31D also back onto the galley. 29B and 29E carry a lavatory-traffic note.
The last comfortable row at the back is 28, and 28A and 28F have misaligned windows.
Quick-pick summary
| You are | Book | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Alone in Business | 2B, 2E, 4B or 4E | The four throne seats — own aisle, nobody to climb over, all rated green |
| A couple in Business | 1A/1C or 3A/3C | A proper pair, forward of the mid-cabin lavatory |
| In Business, avoid | 5A and 5C | Rated red — the lavatory is immediately behind them |
| Paying for EconomyXtra | Row 8 or row 9 | The two non-exit EconomyXtra rows rated green throughout |
| Want maximum legroom | Row 12 | The overwing exit row, EconomyXtra pitch, green throughout, and it still reclines |
| Want a window in economy | 8A, 8F, 9A or 9F | Green window seats in the extra-legroom block with no window problem |
| Anyone | Avoid 6A–6D, 22A/22F, and rows 30–31 | Four red seats in the first extra-legroom row, two windowless extra-legroom seats, and twelve red seats at the back |
FAQ
Is TAP Business on the A321LR a real lie-flat bed?
Yes. All sixteen seats in the A321LR Business cabin are recorded as lie-flat. That is not true of any other TAP narrowbody: the A321neo, A320neo and A321ceo all sell a standard economy seat with the middle blocked and a curtain behind it, which is normal European practice but is a completely different product.
What is a throne seat and which ones are they?
A throne is a solo seat with space on both sides, so the passenger has direct access to the aisle and nobody has to climb over them. On this aircraft they are 2B, 2E, 4B and 4E — the two-seat rows in the stagger. They are the only four seats in the Business cabin with direct aisle access.
Which economy seats have no window?
22A and 22F. Both are recorded as having no window at this seat position — wall only — and both are inside the second exit row, so they carry extra legroom and are priced accordingly. They are the most misleading seats on the aircraft.
Is EconomyXtra worth it?
At 33 inches against 31 it is a real difference on a transatlantic sector, but the row you pick matters more than the product. Rows 8, 9 and 12 are rated green throughout; four of the six seats in row 6 are rated red despite it being the bulkhead; and row 11 is amber because it sits ahead of the exit and does not fully recline. Book row 8, 9 or 12 or do not bother.
Will I definitely get the A321LR?
Not necessarily. TAP flies A321neos and A321ceos on many of the same sectors, and those aircraft have no lie-flat cabin at all. If a lie-flat seat is the reason you are booking, check the aircraft type at booking, again at check-in, and treat a change as a real possibility. Our TAP A321neo guide covers what you get instead.
Is there Wi-Fi?
Yes — Panasonic eXConnect Ku-band at 10 to 40 Mbps, with Panasonic eX3 seatback entertainment running gate to gate.