The history and future of the A321

Often used for domestic and short-haul journeys, the fate of the Airbus A321 is currently changing. With the release of the new A321LR, many airlines have made the decision to start new long haul flights which were otherwise unprofitable. Jetstar is one of the latest customers for the A321LR, who have announced that they will use the A321LR on a long haul service. These include flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Bali which are currently operated by the widebody, very efficient, Boeing 787. This move by Jetstar, will allow the opening of new long haul routes as well as an increase in frequencies on popular destinations such as Vietnam, China, Thailand and Hawaii. For passengers, the new aircraft promises a more comfortable journey, with 50% quieter engines and extra cabin space than the current aircraft operating the route (787). New slimline seats will allow for at least 40 more seats to be fitted per aircraft compared to the A320, the A321s younger sister. All 18 Airbus A321 aircraft that the airline has on order will be deployed across Jetstar's international network between 2020 and 2022. The new Airbus aircraft promises to be more efficient than its predecessors, burning up to 15% less fuel and can also fly up to 700 kilometres further than the A320.

The A321 was designed as a longer version of the A320. The A321 has more than 1000 aircraft of its type on order, including the A321NEO with more than 700 orders. It was created as a potential Boeing 757 replacement, focusing mainly on the American market. The A321neoLR (A321LR) has a range of up to 4000 nautical miles (nm), which is 200nm more than the 757-200 and 300nm more than the normal A321. To achieve the extra range, Airbus has added an extra auxiliary tank bringing the total amount of tanks to three. It also has a MTOW of 97t. Airbus says, that the aircraft will have a 27% reduction in fuel burn compared to the B757. The aircraft is expected to be introduced in 2019, with its first order already secured to launch customer Air Lease Corporation, a US based leasing company. Air lease corporation has already got its first costumer, with Air Astana leasing 4 from the lessor. In 2016, Norweigian transferred 30 of its previous A321NEO aircraft order to the longer range A321LR. Norweigian also plans to use these aircraft on transatlantic services from europe to the US. The aircraft recently flew its maiden test flight which lasted 2 hours and 36 mins. According to the Airbus website, type certification should be granted by the second quarter of 2018, with entry expected for the 4 quarter of 2018. One of the first A321 versions was the Airbus A321-100 which had a shorter range than the A321-200, making it significantly less popular. The first flight was in 1993 but only 78 were delivered. By 2017, only 56 remain in service with most of them being with Alitalia and Lufthansa, the Italian national carrier and German flag carrier respectively. The last delivery was in June 2001 and soon after, Boeing shut down production. The A321-200, however, had the same amount of seats as the -100 but had a 3000nm increase in range. Sharklets, which are now available for airlines, gives a 4% reduction in fuel burn and 2550kg more payload which makes the -200 much more popular. Production is still in progress for a growing number of orders, which is due to the interest by low-cost carriers. For example, Vueling, Jet blue, Wizzair and many others have ordered many of the aircraft type and are continuing to operate them throughout 2018. None of the airlines above have expressed any desire of phasing the type out and have only shown interest in phasing more of the type in. Airbus has well promoted the new -LR version as a replacement for the B757 and as such, recieved a commitment from Delta Airlines for 100 aircraft with 100 options. This was a huge break for Airbus, with both the two major aircraft manufacturers, airbus and boeing, competing for orders which intended to replace the 757. Boeing offers the 737-900ER which has a range of 2950nm which is 800nm less than the 757-200 but still enables it to fly key American routes including New york to Los Angeles. The A321 is an aircraft with a lot of potential, especially as a replacement for the 757-200 which is a big market mainly in the US.