Airbus Updates No.3736

 

airBaltic still eyeing A321neo(XLR)s

Airbus A321-200N XLR© Airbus - Bockfilm / Bengt Lange

05.07.2022 - 04:41 UTC

airBaltic (BT, Riga) chief executive Martin Gauss has reiterated that longer-range Airbus jets, specifically the A321-200NX(XLR), continue to be of interest to the airline at some point in the future as it considers more distant destinations rather than acquire widebody aircraft.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, airBaltic currently operates a single-type fleet of thirty-six A220-300s, with 14 more on order (and options for 30 more), and is wet-leasing in extra capacity - currently two A319-100s (from Carpatair and Hi Fly Malta) and a B737-400 (from Air Horizont) - to cope with resurgent summer demand while it wet-leases out some of its A220s during the summer 2022 season.

Telling Airways Magazine in an interview that the A220 has been “the right choice for airBaltic’s fleet renewal” because of its fuel efficiency and it being “an overall excellent flying experience” for customers, at the tail-end of the 2021-22 winter season it received its first A220-300 certified to operate up to 149 seats, as opposed to 145 seats previously.

“Going forward, also the existing fleet will be adjusted to use the additional capacity, which will further drive the efficiency of our operations,” he said. “airBaltic plans to unblock the additional seats on its entire fleet by summer 2023.”

The A321neo(XLR), meanwhile, performed its first flight on June 15, but Airbus conceded in a recent financial report that it would enter into service in early 2024, not in 2023, due to delays in certification. According to Airways Magazine, Gauss said that the A321neo(XLR) was an option for the near future, but talking to Flight Global last month he said it “is a very interesting aircraft if we look into the longer-term future.”

The current fleet enables direct flights from Riga to destinations such as Dubai Int'l, but the XLR would boost the Baltics’ lack of long-haul connectivity and “fly even longer though it’s still a little aircraft. That’s the only type to be able to do something in the future that fits our model,” he told Flight Global.

An order would occur after the carrier launches its initial public offering (IPO) in the coming years and pays off its Covid-associated state aid, he added.

Gauss said in June 2019 that airBaltic could potentially use the then-newly-announced XLR version of the A321-200neo to launch transatlantic and other long-haul flights in the future.

Airbus Updates No.2384

Chilean Sky Airline orders 10 Airbus A321XLR

Santiago, Chile - Santiago-based Chilean low-cost carrier Sky has ordered 10 Airbus A321XLR jets directly from Airbus.

The airline has also signed for a training partnership with the European planemaker.

"This new aircraft fleet will allow us to expand our offer of international and wide-ranging routes," said Sky Airline chief executive Holger Paulmann.

Sky Airline currently flies to the destinations in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay.

The airline operates nine Airbus A319s and 14 A320neos. Another four A320neos on order will be delivered to the South American carrier in 2020.

Next year, Airbus will establish a training center in Chile with an A320 full-flight simulator. Sky Airline will become the launch customer of the center for pilot training.

Sky is the second largest airline in Chile after rival LATAM Airlines and the first airline to operate under a low-cost business model in the country.

Airbus Updates No.2313

VietJetAir orders twenty A321neo(XLR)s

Illustration of VietJetAir Airbus A321-200NXLR © Airbus

02.11.2019 - 02:44 UTC

VietJetAir (VJ, Hanoi) has placed a firm order for fifteen A321neo(XLR)s with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac). According to the European manufacturer, the Vietnamese LCC has also converted five A321neo order slots to the ultra-longhaul variant.

VietJetAir will be among the first airlines to receive the A321neo(XLR) whose addition will allow the carrier to open up longer-range routes across Asia, as well as to destinations as far afield as Australia and Russia.

As of September 30, VietJetAir had 111 A321neo on order from Airbus alongside 200 B737-8-200s on order from Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare). It currently operates twenty-five A320-200s, thirty-three A321ceo, eleven A321neo, and one A321neo(LR) on scheduled flights spanning Vietnam as well as South Korea, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Japan, Cambodia, Myanmar, India, and Indonesia.