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The Airbus A321XLR has arrived . This latest addition to the manufacturer ’ s narrow-body family is the world ’ s longestrange single-aisle commercial aircraft . Designed to be as comfortable as a wide-body , it holds the promise of opening up new routes that bigger , less economical planes could not handle — including those that cross the Atlantic .
Buenos dias from Madrid Barajas Airport ( MAD ) where , on November 13 , Airways was on hand for the introduction of an aircraft that seems poised to reshape civil aviation as we know it . It was the eve of the plane ’ s first transatlantic flight : Madrid to Boston .
The XLR ( extra-long range ) is arguably Airbus ’ most awaited jet . Its extra fuel capacity enables it to fly for up to 11 hours , or 4,700nm — more than enough to cover the distance between New York and Rome . Or London and Delhi . Airbus splashed these city pairs as advertising on the fuselage of F-WXLR , one of the demonstrator planes .
The XLR is an enhanced version of the Neo , the Airbus narrow-body family . And it is
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2 Marco Sansavini was assigned as CEO of Iberia in April 2024 after transitioning from the IAG lowcost subsidiary Vueling . // ADRIAN NOWAKOWSKI / AIRWAYS .
3 Despite a ceiling that is significantly lower than those of wide-body jets , the Business Class of the Iberia Airbus A321XLR cabin offers an experience that is close to the A330 and A350 . // ADRIAN NOWAKOWSKI / AIRWAYS
4 The Airbus A321XLR features a completely different emergency exit layout than its predecessor , so new safety instructions have been created . // ADRIAN NOWAKOWSKI / AIRWAYS
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going to open some interesting markets .
“ The XLR comes into a market space that today doesn ’ t really exist ,” said Antonio Da Costa , Airbus Vice President of Single-Aisle Marketing , who has followed the XLR ’ s development since its inception , “ and it can be divided into two main pillars .” “ The first pillar is represented by those airlines that exclusively operate the A320 family . For them , the A321XLR offers a tool to expand their network to go further without requiring any major investments other than the aircraft itself , because they already have the Pilots , mechanics , cabin crew , and airport infrastructure .
“ Customers like JetBlue already operate the LR variant and could use the XLR to stretch further into Europe from the US East Coast . Another XLR customer is Wizz Air , which intends to go for longer-range flights within their low-cost model .
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“ There is a second major pillar : those carriers that already operate a long-haul network , like our launch customer , Iberia . The XLR allows them to increase both the number of destinations and the frequencies of the airports already in their network . For example , the XLR will enable Iberia to operate its Madrid- Washington , DC , route all year round , while before it was only a seasonal connection .”
The first of Iberia ’ s XLRs , EC- OIL , debuted on November 13 before a crowd of employees and international journalists .
Iberia equipped it with a real wide-body cabin . The airline , the launch customer of the RECARO R3 seat , installed 168 in the main Economy Class cabin . Business Class features 14 suites in a 1-1 configuration , with direct aisle access and lie-flat bed mode . The IFE , connectivity , and passenger experience are as close as they can to those found on
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