The round-the-world tour of the A321XLR, the plane that will change long-haul, has begun

A long journey 10 days, for more than 100 hours of flight time and a full round-the-world flight. Just over a year after its first test flight, now Airbus' A321XLR is taking one of the last steps to officially enter service.

The single-aisle aircraft that stands as a candidate for Revolutionizing long-haul routes is now ready to debut and could start operating permanently as early as the middle of next year.

Why the world tour

Yesterday, September 13, in fact one of the three A321XLR test aircraft - specifically the one registered as F-WWAB (MSN 11080) - is Took off for the first time ever with the goal of making a long journey around the globe landing on various international airports.

Airbus has not released the list of stopovers and routes involved in this round-the-world tour, but it has invited on social media fans, spotters, and enthusiasts to a veritable "treasure hunt" to identify in the air or at the airport the latest in-house gem. The plane's routes (15 including short, mmedium and ungo range) can be watched live on FlightRadar24.

Thus, the A321XLR will face all-around altitudes, temperatures, weather conditions and seasonality for the first time. For this major test, the only one of the three aircraft-pilot equipped with a full cabin, in the configuration most likely to what will be the aircraft delivered to the airlines.

Finally, for the first time, flight attendants - in addition to pilots and engineers - will also be on board, and about 30 passengers (volunteer employees of Airbus and some airlines) who will be the first lucky ones to experience the entire flight experience.

Around the world is a more "attractive" way Airbus calls the Functional and Reliability Testing, one of the last and most important activities useful for obtaining certification by Easa (the European Aviation Safety Agency).

The delays and the cut in autonomy

The A321Xlr - where Xlr stands for Extra Long Range - was supposed to officially take off as early as the end of this year; but due to various factors (pandemic, supply chain crisis, delayed certifications, etc...) the first deliveries of the new model are expected to slip to mid-2024, according to the latest estimates.

The aircraft is part of the Airbus A320 family and is unique because it combines a range of about 8,400 km (thanks to an additional fuel tank placed in the center-rear part of the aircraft) with a single-aisle short- to medium-range aircraft size.

In addition to Lower the fuel consumption of the 30% per single seat, the aircraft will allow airlines to alternate between medium haul and long haul routes even on the same operating day.

The A321Xlr allows you to fly, for example, Rome to New York, London to Miami, Dubai to Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo to Sydney or Buenos Aires to Miami with a capacity ranging from 180 to 220 seats using the two classes of service.

Unfortunately, however, just in August the European Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) slightly "clipped the wings" of the Airbus revolution.

The plane, in fact, will not be able to reach the range promised to airlines due to a projected "cut" of about 370 kilometers, a drop in the 4.3% approx. (at equivalent seat capacity) as a result of changes required by Easa to obtain aircraft certification.

According to the following Airbus graphic, the new range Does not impact the reported route examples; but some carriers have more ambitious plans with plans to operate very long haul routes.

Despite the decrease in range, the A321XLR still remains a real "war machine" for Airbus. The cost-benefit ratio remains very high; so does the advantage of being able to operate long-haul routes and extensions with a narrowbody and higher frequencies even daily.

Who will fly the A321XLR.

The A321Xlr was launched at the 2019 Paris Airshow and as of February this year Airbus has already accumulated 550 orders from 26 airlines worldwide.

U.S. airlines placed the largest orders. American and United requested 50 aircraft each, and Air Canada added another 6 aircraft; while Australia's Qantas has ordered 36 aircraft.

But the low-cost sector has also placed a number of very large orders. Indigo Partners will split its order from 50 aircraft at its airlines: twenty A321XLR will be awarded to Wizz Air, 18 to the U.S. Frontier and 12 to the Chilean JetSmart.

JetBlue, which already operates flights between London and New York with the A321Lr has placed a 13-aircraft order; while Indian low-cost airline Indigo has signed a 36-aircraft order.

• Airbus