Jun 19, 2019, 9:33 am
Last edit by: Prospero
AA Airbus A321XLR
merican ordered 50 Airbus A321XLR at the June Paris Airshow held at Paris - Le Bourget airport. 30 of these replace previously ordered A321neo, 20 are new orders. These will largely fulfill the roles of the departing Boeing 757-200. Airbus announced first deliveries of the XLR to start in 2023.
The Airbus A321XLR will reportedly have over 90% compatibility with, and will use the same basic engines as, the A321neo. With a range at ~101 metric tons of up to 4,700 nm, @5% more than the A321LR, the longest range of any narrowbody commercial aircraft. The aircraft will offer a 30% fuel savings compared to current comparable aircraft.
The aircraft can accommodate 180-220 passengers in two class configuration. AA is reported by several sources as seeking to fly these with all aisle access lie flat bed seats in Business, Premium Economy. Routing is expected to include East Coast - Europe lower demand routes, and likely South America.
“American will take delivery of their A321XLRs over the following timeframe...: 8 in 2023, 22 in 2024, 20 in 2025” - OMAT
Launch customers for the A321XLR were Steven F. Udvar-Házy‘s Air Lease Corporation (27) and Middle East Airlines of Lebanon, (4). Other airlines ordering A321XLR directly or through lessors include, additionally to AA, Aer Lingus, Frontier, Iberia, JetSMART (Chile), Jetstar, Qantas, Wizz Air.
OMAT
published range maps from GC
Maps:
Links to sources
Link to Is The Airbus A321XLR Vaporware Or The New Long-Range Leader?, Michael Goldstein, Forbes, 19 Jun 2018 (early speculation)
JonNYC original “hearing from multiple angles that an AA order for the A321LR is imminent, potentially at the Paris air show” was 31 May 2019, quoted in this thread on airliners.net.
Link to Airbus launches longest range single-aisle airliner: the A321XLR, Airbus, 17 Jun 2019
Link to Airbus Launches The A321XLR, The Longest Range Narrow Body Plane Ever, by Ben (Lucky), OMAT, 17 Jun 2019
Link to American Airlines agrees to order 50 Airbus A321XLRs,Airbus, 19 Jun 2019
Link to American Airlines Orders 50 Airbus A321XLRs, Ben (Lucky, 19 Jun 2019 OMAT
Link to American Airlines to become the first US airline to order new Airbus plane Phil LeBeau, CNBC, 19 Jun 2019 (It was actually Frontier who ordered first)
merican ordered 50 Airbus A321XLR at the June Paris Airshow held at Paris - Le Bourget airport. 30 of these replace previously ordered A321neo, 20 are new orders. These will largely fulfill the roles of the departing Boeing 757-200. Airbus announced first deliveries of the XLR to start in 2023.
The Airbus A321XLR will reportedly have over 90% compatibility with, and will use the same basic engines as, the A321neo. With a range at ~101 metric tons of up to 4,700 nm, @5% more than the A321LR, the longest range of any narrowbody commercial aircraft. The aircraft will offer a 30% fuel savings compared to current comparable aircraft.
The aircraft can accommodate 180-220 passengers in two class configuration. AA is reported by several sources as seeking to fly these with all aisle access lie flat bed seats in Business, Premium Economy. Routing is expected to include East Coast - Europe lower demand routes, and likely South America.
“American will take delivery of their A321XLRs over the following timeframe...: 8 in 2023, 22 in 2024, 20 in 2025” - OMAT
Launch customers for the A321XLR were Steven F. Udvar-Házy‘s Air Lease Corporation (27) and Middle East Airlines of Lebanon, (4). Other airlines ordering A321XLR directly or through lessors include, additionally to AA, Aer Lingus, Frontier, Iberia, JetSMART (Chile), Jetstar, Qantas, Wizz Air.
OMAT
published range maps from GC
Maps:
Links to sources
Link to Is The Airbus A321XLR Vaporware Or The New Long-Range Leader?, Michael Goldstein, Forbes, 19 Jun 2018 (early speculation)
JonNYC original “hearing from multiple angles that an AA order for the A321LR is imminent, potentially at the Paris air show” was 31 May 2019, quoted in this thread on airliners.net.
Link to Airbus launches longest range single-aisle airliner: the A321XLR, Airbus, 17 Jun 2019
Link to Airbus Launches The A321XLR, The Longest Range Narrow Body Plane Ever, by Ben (Lucky), OMAT, 17 Jun 2019
Link to American Airlines agrees to order 50 Airbus A321XLRs,Airbus, 19 Jun 2019
Link to American Airlines Orders 50 Airbus A321XLRs, Ben (Lucky, 19 Jun 2019 OMAT
Link to American Airlines to become the first US airline to order new Airbus plane Phil LeBeau, CNBC, 19 Jun 2019 (It was actually Frontier who ordered first)
AA Orders 50 Airbus A321XLR at 2019 Paris Airshow
Jun 25, 2019, 4:27 am
#61
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My thought is that this would provide much less (too little?) differentiation between PE and J on the XLR than on widebodies where J is more spacious. In particular, the post by PHL that I was replying to was suggesting 2+2 J, which seems redundant with 2+2 PE if the only real difference is amount of recline.
Jun 25, 2019, 7:35 am
#62
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Jun 25, 2019, 11:31 am
#63
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Interesting that Isom chose Basel of all places as an example of where they could fly this plane to. I would think there are bigger EU fish to fry first (Geneva, Nice, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Malaga, Lyon again etc)
Jun 25, 2019, 12:58 pm
#64
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i suspect “not tipping off the competition too much” on that mention. 2 of the destinations you mention strike me as much more likely for the first routes than Basel.
Jun 25, 2019, 1:39 pm
#65
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Would this allow them to bring back more P2P for JFK? I know it seems they have given up all but the most important markets ex-JFK, in favor of PHL, but with the right economics perhaps DUB, MAN, EDI, GVA/ZRG, Germany, etc might be feasible? A boy can dream...
Jun 25, 2019, 2:38 pm
#66
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Dream is the key word. If anything happens at JFK, it is more likely AA simply would replace some of the TATL 777 flights with A321XLR.
Jun 25, 2019, 3:41 pm
#67
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Nope.
Jun 25, 2019, 7:29 pm
#68
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My thought is that this would provide much less (too little?) differentiation between PE and J on the XLR than on widebodies where J is more spacious. In particular, the post by PHL that I was replying to was suggesting 2+2 J, which seems redundant with 2+2 PE if the only real difference is amount of recline.
Jun 25, 2019, 9:33 pm
#69
Join Date: Jun 2018
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Therefore JFK, EWR, MIA, RSW, LAS no longer have any direct flight to/from DUS.
DL to ATL would be the only direct route, connecting DUS with the U.S.!
Aug 24, 2019, 4:22 pm
#70
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I still don't understand this "single aisle versus twin aisle" argument. I have yet to be on an intl widebody flight where the FAs do a cart service in one aisle while leaving the other aisle open for passengers to use. They employ their carts in both aisles to do their service, thus blocking both aisles for passengers wanting to use the lavatories. Moreover, the amount time FAs have a cart in the aisle(s) to do a beverage/meal service is a fraction of a 7 or 8 hour flight.
I, for one, am very glad AA will be acquiring these aircraft. The only downside I see in it is that they won't be coming online until 2023. Which means the 75L will be flying TATL for another 4 years. But these aircraft will allow AA to increase their TATL service. And also help those looking to avoid LHR and the high BA fees on award travel, ans which seems to be a frequent complaint on this forum. When did more choices become a bad thing?
As for my previous prediction when this order was being rumored. I'm still sticking with a 12J and 12W configuration. Although I had said they could use a seat like the F seat on the 321T, I now think they should do a staggered J configuration, similar to how they are done for the window seats on the 763. The cabin width of the 321 is just over 12 feet, so I think this could work space-wise.
I, for one, am very glad AA will be acquiring these aircraft. The only downside I see in it is that they won't be coming online until 2023. Which means the 75L will be flying TATL for another 4 years. But these aircraft will allow AA to increase their TATL service. And also help those looking to avoid LHR and the high BA fees on award travel, ans which seems to be a frequent complaint on this forum. When did more choices become a bad thing?
As for my previous prediction when this order was being rumored. I'm still sticking with a 12J and 12W configuration. Although I had said they could use a seat like the F seat on the 321T, I now think they should do a staggered J configuration, similar to how they are done for the window seats on the 763. The cabin width of the 321 is just over 12 feet, so I think this could work space-wise.
Last edited by Fanjet; Aug 24, 2019 at 4:28 pm
May 5, 2022, 11:25 am
#71
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Based on various news articles this week, it appears that Airbus will have to delay the deliveries of the A321-XLR from 2023 to 2024. Looks like another year that AA will have to limit their international routes.
May 5, 2022, 2:06 pm
#72
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Those 15 stored A330-200s are looking better and better as a stop gap option if the 787 and 321XLR are delayed. They were out out to pasture much too young.
Last edited by PHL; May 5, 2022 at 3:04 pm
May 5, 2022, 3:10 pm
#73
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May 5, 2022, 8:32 pm
#75
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Slightly off-topic, but interesting it made more financial sense for AY to wet-lease A350’s to LH for leisure routes than to find a way to operate them within the existing OW TATL partnership. Have to wonder if that’s an option AA looks at more closely for next summer.