It’s taken some time (and politics), but Aer Lingus has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR.
Aer Lingus’s first Airbus A321XLR – Image, Airbus
This is the first of six Airbus A321XLRs planned to join the Aer Lingus Long Haul fleet. With this delivery, the airline has become the second in the world to operate the A321XLR—with sister International Airlines Group airline Iberia being the first.
Two aircraft were delivered in total to the airline – EI-XLR (St Lelia / Liadhain – the class leader) arriving first, with EI-XLT (St Melanie / Mella) delivered later that day.
Powered by CFM LEAP-1A engines, the aircraft took off from the Airbus production site in Hamburg, Germany, on 18 December to Aer Lingus’ home base at Dublin Airport, Ireland.
The Aer Lingus A321XLR has 184 seats in a two-class layout, featuring 16 full-flat Business Class and 168 Economy Class seats.
Business Class is made up of Thompson Vantage Business Class seats, with 18″ 4K screens, whilst in Economy Class the Recaro R3 (CL3810) seats take flight again, with 12″ screens installed. Both have USB-C Power-at-seat.
It is the first aircraft in the Aer Lingus fleet to offer passengers and cabin crew the enhanced comfort of Airbus’ Airspace Cabin, featuring XL overhead bins with 60% more storage space compared to previous generation aircraft. In addition, in-seat connectivity is available to all passengers while the latest lighting system enhances the overall passenger experience.
The aircraft will enable Aer Lingus to operate new routes beyond the US East Coast and Canada, with destinations including Nashville and Indianapolis penned in for the aircraft, given its maximum range of 4,700nm.
In Quotes
Lynne Embleton, Chief Executive, Aer Lingus, said:
“The arrival of our two new Airbus A321XLRs mark a significant milestone for Aer Lingus. The long-range capabilities of the XLR enable us to travel deeper into North America, offering previously unserved markets greater connectivity to Europe through our Dublin hub. Both new XLR aircraft will operate on our newly announced routes to Nashville and Indianapolis for summer 2025. Looking ahead, we’re on target to expand our XLR fleet from two to six aircraft in 2025, further strengthening our position as a market leader in North American connectivity.”
Benoît de Saint Exupéry, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer, added:
“Aer Lingus becomes the latest operator of the world’s newest single-aisle aircraft: the A321XLR. It will truly revolutionise long-haul travel, allowing airlines to tap into new exciting city pairings as will be demonstrated by Aer Lingus. We stand alongside Aer Lingus and will together make its growing fleet of A321XLRs a resounding success operationally and with passengers.”
A growing Long Haul Capability
Aer Lingus has been adjusting its fleet, with it settled on the A330 family (A330-200 and A330-300) for its denser services, and utilising the Airbus A321LR and Airbus A321XLR for its “thin and long” services.
Save for the odd jaunts to Spain, the widebody capacity targets North America – and with the Airbus A321XLR, this isn’t changing, with airlines seeing this aircraft in some ways as a Boeing 757 replacement.
Aer Lingus currently operates eight of the slightly shorter-range A321LRs. When all six A321XLRs join the fleet, that will give Aer Lingus a capacity of 13 widebody aircraft and 14 single-aisle long-haul capable aircraft.
This presents lots of expansion opportunities for Aer Lingus – or route densification if needed.
It’ll be interesting to see where they end up – with Nashville and Indianapolis already highlighted.
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