Aer Lingus tipped as first A321XLR operator in 2024

Avatar photoJon Ostrower·
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When the A321XLR was first launched in 2019 at the Paris Air Show, Airbus announced a deal for four aircraft from Beirut’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) “making it the launch airline customer” for the airframer’s longest-range single-aisle. Increasingly, however, a series of public comments by International Airlines Consolidated Group (IAG) point to Aer Lingus as now taking the lead for being first to deploy the aircraft.

Related: In Hamburg, Airbus passes last embers of A380 torch to A321XLR

At its Nov. 21 capital markets day, IAG — parent company of Aer Lingus, Iberia, British Airways, Vueling and Level — included a slide with a bullet point labeled “First to Fly A321 XLR from Q4-2024.” Airbus has said it is planning for certification of the aircraft in the second quarter of 2024.

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Jon Ostrower
Jon Ostrower is Editor-in-chief of The Air Current, where he leads coverage of the global aerospace and aviation industries. Prior to launching TAC in June 2018, Mr. Ostrower served as Aviation Editor for CNN Worldwide, guiding the network’s global coverage of the business and operations of aviation. Mr. Ostrower joined CNN in 2016 following four and a half years at the Wall Street Journal. Based first in Chicago and then in Washington, D.C., he covered Boeing, aviation safety, and the business of global aerospace. Before that, Mr. Ostrower was editor of FlightBlogger for Flightglobal and Flight International Magazine covering the development of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and other new aircraft programs from 2007 to 2012. He is also an instructor at the University of Southern California in the Viterbi School of Engineering's Aviation Safety and Security program. Mr. Ostrower, a Boston native, graduated from The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs with a bachelor’s degree in Political Communication. He is based in Seattle.
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