A321XLR has just three aircraft in service after two months without new deliveries
Awaited for several years after delays, the A321XLR is still a fairly rare aircraft at airports. After delivering the first jet to Iberia at the end of October, Airbus only sent two more aircraft to a customer, Aer Lingus, on December 18th.
The fleet of three A321XLRs has been flying daily on routes to the northeastern US and Canada. Iberia has placed its only aircraft, EC-OIL, on the Madrid-Boston route since November.
With two jets, Aer Lingus has been able to use the A321XLR on more destinations. The aircraft alternate on flights from Dublin to Washington, Boston and Toronto, Canada, as well as London.
With a range of 4,700 nm (8,700 km), the A321neo variant is being touted as a more efficient replacement for widebodies, thanks to its capacity for up to 240 passengers.
Airbus says it has more than 500 orders for the A321XLR from airlines such as American Airlines, Qantas and WizzAir. The three are among the next to receive the aircraft, but this depends on the type certification of the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine – so far only planes with the CFM Leap-1 turbofan can fly regularly.
Despite the appeal of its unparalleled performance, the A321XLR is not a unanimous choice. For analyst Courtney Miller, CEO of Visual Approach Analytics, the model suffers from competition from its “brother” A321LR.
With a range that is also high (4,000 nm/7,400 km), the variant is cheaper and can cover around 85% of the routes that the A321XLR is intended to cover.
Amidst the difficulties with the supply chain, Airbus should be able to deliver more A321XLRs in 2025 and thus show what it is capable of.
About the Author
Ricardo Meier
Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.
