Air Canada delights Airbus with a firm order and secures additional options. The airline also wants to fly across the Atlantic with the A321 XLR.
Already at the beginning of March it was leaked that Air Canada was interested in additional Airbus A321 Neo. There was talk of 10 to 20 LR or XLR type aircraft. Now the airline has disclosed its order – and it is even larger.
On the one hand, Air Canada announces itself as the buyer of six A321 XLRs, which were previously in the Airbus order book as aircraft for an unnamed customer. The airline leased another 20 A321 XLRs – 15 from Air Lease Corporation and five from Aercap. All of these aircraft will be delivered between 2024 and 2027.
Business Class with lie-flat seats
In addition, Air Canada has secured rights to a further 14 of the aircraft from Airbus. Should the airline use them, these would be delivered between 2027 and 2030.
The aircraft will accommodate 182 passengers, with 14 business class seats that convert to flat beds and 168 economy class seats. Due to the long range of the model, you can – should the aviation authority Transport Canada release it – “fly transatlantic missions” with it, according to Air Canada. The decision for an engine manufacturer has not yet been made.
No neos in the fleet yet
Air Canada wants to use the planes to both grow the fleet and replace older planes with them. So far, the Canadian airline only has A320 family aircraft from the older Ceo generation.