Air Canada acquires A321XLRs

Air Canada has announced it has acquired 26 Airbus A321XLRs, the long range variant of the A321neo. Six have been acquired directly with Airbus, five will be leased via AerCap and fifteen will be leased from Air Lease Corporation. The airline has also secured fourteen additional purchase options with Airbus for the A321XLR.

Deliveries of the new Airbuses is to begin in the first quarter of 2024 and the last aircraft is to arrive in the first quarter of 2027. The optional purchases are planned for delivery between 2027 and 2030 once firmed.

Air Canada will outfit the A321XLRs with fourteen lie-flat Air Canada Signature Class seats and 168 Economy Class seats. It's unclear which routes it will be flying the type to at this stage.

Today, Air Canada is already a large Airbus-operator, having a fleet of 27 A220-300s, one A319, eighteen A320s and fifteen A321s. The airline is also in the process of renewing its narrowbody-fleet with B737MAX8s.

Illustration by Air Canada.