In March 2022, Air Canada placed an order for Airbus’ new long range narrow body jet. A little over four years later, there’s now an exciting update, as the airline has just taken delivery of its first of these aircraft. Let’s go over all the details, and what this plane means for the Star Alliance carrier.
For those not familiar with the A321XLR, this is the latest generation A321 aircraft. The aircraft was announced in 2019, and entered service in late 2024, with Iberia and Aer Lingus being the two launch customers. The long range aircraft has the ability to operate all kinds of long and thin routes where the economics might not make sense with larger aircraft.
For passengers, the plane is a mixed bag — narrow body planes just don’t have the same level of comfort as wide body planes, though it’s always nice to be able to fly nonstop, rather than connecting. Air Canada intends to use these planes both for flights within North America, as well as for transatlantic flights (I suspect the latter will be the biggest focus).
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
