The future of long-haul flying is just around the corner. Think single-aisle interiors in narrow-bodied planes, longer flights, and better fuel efficiency.

The new next-generation aircraft, manufactured by Airbus, shows promise.

Spanish airline Iberia had the honour of being the first commercial carrier to use the new A321XLR yesterday, taking off from Madrid on a seven-and-a-half-hour flight to Boston.

The new Airbus A321XLR is a comfortable experience for passengers

Inside the plane, the new Airspace cabin reveals 182 seats distributed across two classes.

Due to their single-aisle configuration, the cabins feel a little more personal, akin to a private jet.

The roomy overhead compartments allow for 60 per cent more capacity for hand luggage than most aircraft.

If you fancy a quick beverage, the galley boasts great tech, including an espresso machine that can make a cup of coffee in under 35 seconds.

Across the aircraft, there are four bathrooms, including one that’s for exclusive use by business passengers. These all put hygiene first with antibacterial surfaces, motion-sensor taps, and pedal-operated waste bins.

Airbus A321XLR business class: 4K TVs and flat-bed seats

In business class, you’ll find 14 individual seats, which boast a wide leather headrest and can be turned into fully flat beds.

As you’d expect from the higher-priced ticket, there are plenty of compartments for you to conveniently store your personal belongings, and each seat boasts its own lighting system so you can pick your desired ambience.

You can also enjoy crystal-clear viewing of the in-flight entertainment on your individual 18.5-inch screen with 4K resolution.

And, if you happen to be on a red-eye flight, you won’t need to be clambering around trying to find your seat as your seat number is backlit on night flights.

What’s more, Iberia serves a lovely Spanish tapas course to its business passengers, featuring classics such as manchego cheese, quince paste and Iberian jamon, according to The Points Guy.

Airbus A321XL economy class: Adjustable headrests and reclining seats

The economy cabin’s 168 seats also feel top-class, with seats that comfortably recline up to 10 cm.

Plus, you can watch the latest film on an individual 12-inch, 4K resolution screen that’s integrated into each seatback.

Airbus A321XLR: All passengers get to be fully charged and connected while on board

Gone are the days of relying on the airline’s cheap wired earphones: whether you’re travelling business or economy class, you can connect your own Bluetooth headset.

You can also charge as you fly, with enhanced USB Type-A and Type-C charging points in both cabins. Likewise, seat tables have been thoughtfully positioned to make it easy to use your electronic device, and you can stay connected to your loved ones by accessing complimentary WiFi in all classes.

The Airbus A321XLR is ‘fuel efficient’ and boasts longer range

The ‘XLR’ part of the plane’s name stands for ‘extra-long range’ – and that’s for good reason: the narrow body and configuration means that it boasts a range of up to 7,500 kilometres (4,000 nautical miles). This, in part, is thanks to an extra fuel tank.

While other commercial airlines have been using the wider-bodied A321LR to fly between Western Europe and the United States for several years, the plane’s limited range has always restricted its choice of Atlantic routes, something which the new ‘slimmer’ A321XLR now solves.

This plane is also considered the most efficient on the market, as it has the potential to use 30 per cent less fuel per seat than previous-generation aircraft.

“This is a real milestone in the aviation industry. This new aircraft model allows us to strengthen our network and fly to new destinations in an efficient and comfortable way for all our customers,” said Marco Sansavini, president of Iberia.

When will other airlines be flying the Airbus A321XLR?

Over the next 15 months, Iberia will add seven more planes of this model to its fleet so that it can fly even more transoceanic routes.

Flights from Madrid to Washington Dulles are expected to begin mid-January 2025, with a journey time of nine hours and 40 minutes.

But Iberia won’t just be the only European airline where you will see this game-changing plane.

A whopping 550 A321XLR have been ordered by commercial carriers, including Aer Lingus and the low-cost airline Wizz Air.

While Aer Lingus plans to launch its new fleet addition with an eight-hour and 30-minute flight from Dublin to Nashville in April, Wizz Air is due to launch its new aircraft with two new seven-hour routes from London Gatwick and Jeddah in March, and Milan to Abu Dhabi in June.

Getting the right to live and work in another country can be a long and difficult process. But that’s not always the case for those with money to spend.

Golden visas offer the opportunity for wealthy people to essentially ‘buy’ the right to residency – sometimes without even having to live in the country.

And their popularity in the European Union is growing as people look to move away from countries facing instability and political decisions such as Brexit that may limit their safety and rights.

With the re-election of Trump in the US, applications for golden visas from Americans are also projected to increase.

But golden visas are now gradually being phased out across Europe.

Spain has finally secured a legal route to ending golden visas via property investment, with reports suggesting the ban could come into force by January 2025. The ban, which has been approve by the country’s Congress, could also affect other investment pathways.

Portugal removed real estate investment as a basis for golden visa applications back in October 2023 in the hope of reducing property speculation.

The Netherlands followed suit, ending its golden visa scheme in January 2024.

But Hungary has bucked the trend by reintroducing its golden visa scheme, with applications open as of this month.

So what exactly are these golden visa schemes and why has the EU raised questions about their safety in recent years?

What is a golden visa?

Residence by investment schemes, otherwise known as ‘golden visas’, offer people the chance to get a residency permit for a country by purchasing a house there or making a large investment or donation.

Any applicants must be over the age of 18, have a clean criminal record and have sufficient funds to make the required investment.

There are also golden passports, known officially as citizenship by investment programs, that allow foreigners to gain citizenship using the same means.

For countries in the EU, this also means gaining access to many of the benefits of being a resident of the bloc – including free movement between countries.

Why is the EU against golden visas and passports?

In 2022, the European Commission called on EU governments to stop selling citizenship to investors.

Though this is different to golden visas, which offer permanent residency rather than citizenship, the call came as part of a move to crack down on this combined multi-billion euro industry. In the wake of the Ukraine war, there were concerns that these schemes could be a security risk.

Brussels also called for countries to double-check whether people sanctioned due to the war were holding a golden passport or visa that they had issued.

In the past, the EU has also said that schemes of this kind are a risk to security, transparency and the values that underpin the European Union project.

In October 2022, the European Commission urged Albania to “refrain from developing an investors’ citizenship scheme (golden passports)”. Such a scheme would “pose risks as regards security, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, corruption and infiltration by organised crime, and would be incompatible with EU norms,” it warned in a report. The country has since suspended its plans to introduce a golden visa.

Threats also come from outside the bloc. Also in October 2022, the European Commission proposed a suspension of Vanuatu‘s visa waiver agreement due to golden passport risks. This is because the scheme enables nationals of third countries to gain Vanuatu citizenship, which then earns them visa-free access to Schengen zone countries.

Which other countries have scrapped their golden visa schemes?

In February 2022, the UK government scrapped its golden visa scheme that allowed wealthy foreign nationals to settle in the country in exchange for bringing part of their wealth with them. The decision to end the scheme came as part of a move to clamp down on dirty money from Russia.

In February 2023, Ireland also axed its golden visa scheme – the Immigrant Investor Programme – which offered Irish residence in return for a €500,000 donation or three-year annual €1 million investment in the country.

Ireland had already suspended the scheme for Russian citizens in March 2022 as part of sanctions imposed on the country for the invasion of Ukraine. The following month, the European Parliament warned that the programme was vulnerable to tax abuse. The final decision to end the scheme was the outcome of various international reports and internal reviews.

Which EU countries still offer golden visas and what are the requirements?

There are only a few places that still offer golden passports in the EU. One of these countries is Malta. Here, the minimum investment amount starts at €690,000 and offers citizenship for between 12 and 36 months.

Many others, however, still offer golden visa schemes. Here are a few examples of exactly how much it costs to get residence by investment in these countries.

Does Spain still offer a golden visa?

Spain launched its residence by investment scheme in 2013. It allowed wealthy people from outside the EU to obtain residency permits on investing more than €500,000 in real estate or certain types of business.

However, in April, the country’s government said it plans to scrap the real estate route – which accounts for 94 per cent of applications – to reduce pressure on the housing market.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the reform was part of his minority coalition government’s push to make housing “a right, not a speculative business”.

Spain’s Congress of Deputies has finally approved the bill that will put an end to Spain’s golden visa.

The cancellation is being passed under the Law for the Efficiency of Justice, which has been approved in the Plenary Session of Congress and initial reports suggest it will finally be scrapped in January 2025. According to local media reports, applications made before then are likely to be honoured.

Before this happens, however, it will still need being submitted to the Senate for possible amendments and then back to the Congress for final approval before it’s officially cancelled.

The government says over 15,000 such visas have been issued since the measure was brought into law in 2013 by a previous right-wing Popular Party government as a means to attract foreign investors.

Since Spain announced plans to end its golden visa, Chinese investors have rushed to buy property in the country, a report by Spanish state broadcaster RTVE revealed.

The visa can also be gained by starting certain types of business in Spain, holding company shares or bank deposits with a minimum value of €1 million in Spanish financial institutions, or making a government bonds investment of at least €2 million. The ban could extend to these types of investments, also.

Hungary golden visa scheme

Bucking the trend, Hungary announced plans to reintroduce its golden visa scheme in July 2024, after having ended it back in 2017.

The so-called Guest Investor Program (GIP) offers three routes to residency, including through real estate investment funds (minimum €250,000), purchasing a residential property (minimum €500,000) or donating at least €1 million to a higher educational institution in the country.

The visa is extended to the spouse and dependent children of the applicant and grants visa-free travel in the EU.

Initial applications opened at the end of October, with further real estate investment funds expected to be released by the end of the year.

Italy’s golden visa scheme

Italy is another popular destination for those looking to get residence by investment.

Introduced in 2017, its golden visa grants non-EU nationals a residence permit for two years in exchange for an investment in Italy.

The minimum investment here is €250,000 which must be done through an Italian limited company. Those holding these visas can also include their family in the application and benefit from a special tax regime.

Once those using the scheme have lived in Italy for 10 years, they can be eligible for citizenship.

Greece’s golden visa scheme

Greece offers golden visas, with one of the quickest processes for gaining residency. Qualifying foreigners can get a permit within 60 days of applying.

It used to have one of the lowest thresholds for investment at just €250,000 spent on property in the country. But the country raised this to €800,000 in September in areas facing severe housing shortages, such as Athens, Mykonos and Santorini.

Elsewhere, it only rose to €400,000 to encourage investment in a wider range of places.

Golden visa holders aren’t required to stay in Greece to keep their visas.

By the end of 2021, the country had seen 9,500 applications for these residence by investment schemes, one of the highest numbers in Europe.

Planning to visit or travel within France this November and December?

Be warned that this is expected to be the season of the strike, as several of France’s largest unions, including transport workers and farmers, plan to take industrial action.

All four of France’s major rail unions have joined together for an initial one-day action on Thursday 21 November. This collective strike day is expected to cause significant disruption, and it could even extend to the Christmas holidays and beyond.

Earlier this week, the unions highlighted that if the French government does not meet their demands, they will go on what’s being called a longer and stronger strike (‘un mouvement de grève plus long et plus fort’) from 11 December.

The timing is no coincidence: December is the busiest time for the country’s railways.

Why are there strikes in France?

Unions are concerned about the increasing privatisation of the French state rail company SNCF, the regional train network ‘Transport Express Régional’ (TER), the commuter rail network Transilien and the non-high-speed services Intercité.

In fact, the SNCF has been state-owned since it was founded in the late 1930s, but unions are aggrieved that, since 2019, the French rail network has been open to other potential players so that the national company no longer has a monopoly.

For example, rail companies such as the Spanish state-owned Renfe and the partially Italian state-owned Trenitalia now run some of the Paris services.

France is not the only European country opening up its state railways: this is part of a wider EU initiative to improve the network and encourage more people to choose rail over car or plane travel.

France strikes: How will flights be affected?

You might expect some delays at the airports too, as France’s National Union of Airline Pilots, the SNPL, have issued a strike for 14 November.

This action is likely to affect the national airline Air France and other carriers that employ pilots on French labour contracts.

While the SNPL has only warned of a one-day action, it is possible that this, too, could be extended.

This strike has come about because pilots are unhappy about the French government’s scheme to raise flight taxes by 300 per cent, which they say is being introduced without consulting the aviation industry.

Known as the solidarity tax, right now, passengers pay just under €3 to fly in economy class or €18 in first class, which is added directly onto the cost of their ticket.

But if the tax increase goes ahead, the price could rise to €9.50 when flying economy to a destination in Europe and as much as €120 for a business class ticket from Paris to New York.

France hopes to raise an additional billion euros each year from the aviation sector to cover gaps in the country’s 2025 budget.

Protests and strikes have long been engrained in French culture

Alongside these travel strikes, farmers will also be protesting, which will likely include road blockages that target Spanish and other EU truckers delivering produce.

Likewise, three days of action by two unions representing civil servants are expected to take place in early December. Specific dates have not yet been announced.

When it comes to the sheer breadth of strike action each year, France tends to be at the top of most European countries. However, 2024 has been relatively peaceful compared with previous years until this month.

France has been known for its so-called ‘orderly disorder’ since the 1789 Revolution, which was fuelled by starvation.

Striking was legalised in 1864 and has always been seen as a last resort for demanding better living conditions, but in recent years, it’s become an easy way for groups to make themselves heard against the centralised state government.

French strikes are typically led by well-disciplined unions that can quickly mobilise with specific demands and aims. In turn, this has increased participation, and strikes are nowadays celebrated as a symbol of social victory.