A321LR, a long awaited answer to a growing trend

Airbus constantly monitors aviation trends to stay ahead of the market. So naturally, we have kept a close watch on the A320 Family over the years to ensure the best-selling aircraft family keeps getting better.

All over the world, and our region is no exception, airlines are telling us they want larger variants of the A320 Family. There’s no question that the constant growth of the Latin America aviation market over the past decade has challenged airlines to move more passengers, but air traffic and infrastructure constraints make a great market opportunity into a tall order. It is no wonder that nearly a third of A320 Family aircraft to be delivered will be A321s -- and according to the Airbus Global Market Forecast (GMF) that number is expected to continue climbing to almost 50 percent.

The trend for more efficient and larger aircraft demand was the rationale behind the launch of the A320neo Family, in particular the A321neo -- capable of up to 240 seats. And to help our customers stay further ahead of the curve, Airbus recently launched its latest example of incremental innovation -- an A321neo variant with a range of 4,000 nautical miles or eight flight hours and a maximum takeoff weight capability of 97 tons. Known as the A321LR (long range), the latest addition to the Airbus A320 Family will be ideally suited to help airlines tap into new long haul markets that were not previously accessible with current single aisle aircraft. Many airlines are already referring to the A321LR as the ultimate 757 replacement.

In Latin America this means that the A321LR will allow customers to fly non-stop routes from South to North America, such as Sao Paulo to Miami, Brasilia to New York, Lima to Los Angeles or even Panama City to Seattle, with maximum passengers and each having two pieces of luggage. And in most cases, it would eliminate the need for flights to stop in the middle.

The A321LR will make long haul comfort requirements easy to meet with the Airbus 18" width comfort seats in Economy and full flat seats in Business class, therefore offering a level of comfort adapted to long haul operations, similar to that of Airbus wide bodies. And with some 200 seats in a two-class configuration and at 34 percent less costly to operate and maintain than its much older competitor, the A321LR will surely become the low-risk route opener for long haul.