ADVERTISEMENT

Business

Airbus Upgrades Bestselling A321 Jet to Unlock Long-Haul Routes

An Airbus A321XLR neo at last year’s Paris Air Show. (Nathan Laine/Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloom)

(Bloomberg) -- Over the past 30 years, Airbus SE has continuously eked out more range from its A321 aircraft, making the model a bestseller as customers pair the economic benefits of a narrowbody airliner with the reach and capacity approaching a widebody jet.

Now Airbus is approaching certification of its latest variant — the A321XLR — which may get sign-off from regulators as soon as this month and will effectively double the range from the original model that entered service at the start of 1994. Airbus plans to showcase the plane, for which it has more than 550 orders, at the Farnborough Air Show starting next week.

The XLR’s entry into service, delayed by a year due to the pandemic and concerns about a fire risk from an extra fuel tank, pushes its range to 4,700 nautical miles, or 11 hours of flight. It’s a radius that promises to take single-aisle planes to destinations that were previously the domain of fuel-guzzling twin-aisle planes, changing the operating calculus for carriers that ordered the plane.

Icelandair has ordered 13 XLRs to replace its aging fleet of the out-of-production Boeing Co. 757, which has a shorter maximum range of about 3,900 nautical miles. The XLRs, which burn 30% less fuel than its predecessors, will let the carrier add destinations in California, Texas, Dubai and across Europe, its chief executive officer said. 

“In many cases we are competing with a widebody aircraft, which are not as fuel efficient and not that environmentally friendly,” said Bogi Nils Bogason. “So that is definitely an advantage and we see opportunities for us in that respect.”

Other airlines will also leverage the XLR to expand their networks. Wizz Air Holdings Plc, with 47 XLRs on order, will open up new routes in the Middle East and Asia. The Hungarian low-cost carrier is negotiating with Indian authorities about flights to India using the aircraft, which has capacity for as many as 244 passengers.

“Each of the countries that we serve within Europe all have extreme interest in more connectivity with India,” Chief Operating Officer Michael Delehant said. “So as the XLR comes online, it provides us some of that access.”

IndiGo intends to fly its XLRs within a nine-hour radius from India, also giving it access to parts of Europe. The low-cost airline expects to start operating the new jets toward the end of next year. United Airlines Holdings said the XLR will let it serve more European destinations from its East Coast hubs, while American Airlines also plans to deploy the XLR on some trans-Atlantic routes.

Getting the XLR in the sky hasn’t been without setbacks for Airbus. The company previously expected the aircraft to enter into service in 2023 but was held back by production backlogs and regulatory scrutiny of a potential hazardous extra fuel tank in the rear fuselage. As a result, Airbus pushed the target date back to mid-2024, leaving airlines with long delivery delays.

At one point, Boeing tried to match the A321 with a new mid-market airplane, known as the NMA, but shelved the plans amid struggles to get the 737 Max back in the air following two deadly crashes. That’s left it with the out—of-production 757 model that first entered service in 1983 as its longest-range single-aisle model.

While the economics of operating the XLR on long routes appeal to airlines, being confined to the relatively cramped quarters of a narrowbody aircraft on long flights isn’t for every passenger. It’s a departure from the opulence of the A380, Airbus’s by-far biggest aircraft — popular with the flying public but too inefficient for most airlines and therefore no longer in production. 

While Airbus hasn’t revealed plans for leisure features in the XLR, items like on-board bars or showers that adorn some A380s are unlikely to be part of the mix. Given the plane is built for maximum efficiency, there’s less storage for catering, and bathroom capacity will be more limited than in widebody jets.

“From a service point of view, the XLR represents a few challenges,” said Melanie Berry, the director of inflight customer experience at Spanish carrier Iberia, which is set to debut the aircraft in November. “We are working closely with our cabin crew to find the best solutions for the service.”

On the flip side, a smaller cabin will be more manageable for airlines, said Nigel Goode, founder and chairman of industrial design studio PriestmanGoode.

“If you think about the point-to-point journey, it’s going to be quite nice because at the gate there won’t be so many people,” he said. 

--With assistance from Siddharth Philip.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.