Airbus delivered the first A321neo Long Range (LR) to launch customer Arkia Airlines, but the aircraft manufacturer is already working behind the scenes with a variant that can fly even further: the A321neo Xtra Long Range (XLR). More information about that aircraft is now available.

Manager Klaus Roewe, who is in charge of the A320 family at Airbus, says to Flight Global that the XLR gets a maximum take-off weight of more than 100 tons and a flight range of 8700 kilometers (in normal circumstances and 206 passengers on board). That equals London to Los Angeles.

That means that the XLR can fly about 1300 kilometers further than the current A321neo LR, which with its 7400 kilometers is already suitable for trans-Atlantic flights. The maximum take-off weight of the LR is 97 tons, so that is also a minimum of 3 to 4 tons up (for extra fuel).

Roewe's statements are in line with those of Air Transat CEO Jean-Francois Lemay, who indicated in October in a briefing that Airbus had informed him that the XLR should fly smoothly from Canada to Central and Eastern Europe. This is just too far for the LR.

Roewe emphasizes that no definite decision has yet been made about the development of the Xtra Long Range variant. According to analysts, it's highly probable that the aircraft will be produced, so that Airbus can frustrate a successful introduction of the Boeing 797.

--- D'Bridge 3.99 SR33
* Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)