New Airbus A321XLR in the air for the first time

The aircraft was actually designed for short and medium-haul routes. The plane should be able to fly further than the Caribbean without stopping.

The Airbus A321XLR took off on its maiden flight in Hamburg on Wednesday. The latest Airbus model is already a bestseller: the US airline United already has route plans. American Airlines, Air Canada, JetBlue Airways, Indigo, Iberia and Wizz Air are also planning around 500 A321XLRs in total.

The flight of the prototype should last about three to four hours. Although the jet was actually designed for short to medium-haul routes, non-stop flights from Hamburg to the Caribbean are possible. The letters XLR in the name of the plane also stand for this. They mean “extra long range”.

As “Aero”, the portal for air news, reports, the tank holds almost 13,000 liters of fuel, around 20 percent more than the A321LR model, which according to Airbus was the most powerful narrow-body aircraft in the world to date. The new Airbus will seat 200 passengers.

Airbus A321XLR: Delivery of the first aircraft in 2024

And the competition is also convinced of the model. “I like everything about it,” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is quoted as saying by Aero. He already revealed himself as a fan of the A321XLR last year. “It’s a really good plane,” Calhoun said. Boeing itself does not offer a model with a similar capacity and range.

Airbus boss Guillaume Faury had last promised the maiden flight of the A321XLR by the middle of the year. However, he postponed the delivery of the first machine from the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2024 due to difficulties with the approval. According to insiders, this is about fire protection between the additional tank and the cabin. The European aviation authority Easa had previously criticized this point. Airbus faces the challenge of not making the aircraft heavier with improved fire protection. A higher weight could reduce the range.