With the Airbus A321XLR, a new generation takes to the stage at Le Bourget

After an inaugural flight in June 2022 and a series of tests in Canada over a period of months, the latest addition to the Airbus family, the A321XLR, will be at the Paris Air Show. 
Illustration of the future Airbus A321 XLR (Image: Airbus)

It's the latest addition to the Airbus factory. The new A321XLR (Xtra Long Range) is featured at Paris Air Showrepresenting a new generation of devices. This single-aisle aircraft, derived from the classic Airbus A321, will push back the frontiers a little further by enabling a medium-capacity aircraft (180 to 220 seats depending on its configuration) to offer long-haul flights on lower density routes. Compared with the A321neo, the flight distance that the aircraft can cover is increased by 30%. Or 8,700 km non-stop. Airbus explains that this is equivalent to the distance between Rome and New York, between Kuala Lumpur and Sydney or between London and Vancouver.

With 30% lower fuel consumption - per seat - compared with previous-generation aircraft of a similar size. It reduces the operating cost of a flight by an average of 45%.

Airbus has worked hard on the comfort of this new-generation long-haul aircraft. The A321XLR offers the advantages of the wide-body comfort with the widest cabin of any single-aisle aircraft. This means we can offer wider seats in economy class.

The plane will certainly be one of the favourites for long-haul services to secondary airports, on point-to-point lines. Examples include Basel-Mulhouse, Luxembourg, Lyon and Nice.

Over 500 aircraft on orderwith service scheduled to begin in second half of 2024. Airlines that have placed orders include Air Arabia, AirAsia, American Airlines, Frontier, Qantas, JetBlue and United Airlines.