United Airlines is set to take delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR in December 2025, but it already knows where it plans to deploy the ultra-long-range narrowbody aircraft.
According to Business Insider, the Chicago-based carrier plans to replace its Boeing 757s with the A321XLR on primarily international routes.
United has 50 firm orders for the variant while operating 61 757 jets, two of the 21 are the little-produced 757-300 version.
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According to Patrick Quayle, the airline’s senior vice president of global network planning, the Airbus aircraft will virtually take over all of the 757’s existing routes and open new ones as well.
The A321XLR is expected to fly to destinations including Tenerife, Spain; Reykjavik, Iceland; Faro and Porto, Portugal; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Shannon, Ireland.
The Newark-Lima, Peru flight is still under consideration, while the only domestic route that is expected to continue with the 757 is Denver-Lihue, Hawaii.
New destinations
The A321XLR’s enormous range of 4,700 nautical miles (8,700 km) has United Airlines executives eyeing routes to France, northern Italy, Scandinavia, and western and northern Africa.
With a capacity for about 220 passengers in a long-range cabin configuration, the new Airbus burns 30% less fuel than previous-generation aircraft.
The launch customer for the A321XLR is Iberia, which is expected to take delivery of the first jet in the coming weeks.
For now, the aircraft only has the type certificate for the version with CFM’s LEAP-1A engines, while the variant that uses the Pratt & Whitney GTF turbofan should be approved in early 2025.
United Airlines’ A321XLRs will be equipped with the GTF.
