The latest Airbus single-aisle derivative is set to open “long and thin” routes and replace legacy widebodies in some cases. Andrew Doyle examines how initial operators are exploiting the long-range capabilities of the Airbus A321XLR.
Team Perspective
Andrew Doyle, Senior Consultant, Cirium Ascend Consultancy
Long-range narrowbody twinjet passenger flights gained in popularity from the early 2000s largely thanks to the unique capabilities of the Boeing 757, but such operations remained limited to the “big three” US global network carriers alongside a patchwork of secondary carriers (e.g. Icelandair) and now-defunct new entrants such as all-premium British Airways offshoot OpenSkies.
Production of the 757 ended in 2004 and the type’s deployment on 5,000km-plus routes went into decline from 2010 before being all but wiped out with the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Only United (also joint largest A321XLR customer) and Icelandair (another client for the new Airbus variant) have kept faith with the venerable Boeing through the post-Covid recovery. (....)