Aer Lingus is set to launch its first nonstop flight from Dublin to Nashville in April, making use of the Airbus A321XLR aircraft to open up new transatlantic routes.
Nashville's honky-tonks are about to get a whole lot busier. That's because Aer Lingus is launching its first nonstop flight to the country music capital from Dublin in April. While Ireland might not immediately spring to mind as a hotbed of country music fans, the new route is made possible thanks to a game-changing aircraft: the Airbus A321XLR, or 'Extra Long Range'.
This enhanced version of the popular A321neo can fly further than any other single-aisle plane on the market, and according to Airbus, it burns 30% less fuel per seat than previous-generation aircraft. \'It allows us to go to cities that we would not be able to take the risk on with a wide-body,' said Reid Moody, chief strategy and planning officer at Aer Lingus, referring to the twin-aisle aircraft like the Airbus A330 or Boeing 787 commonly used on transatlantic flights. The Irish carrier already operates two A321XLRs and plans to add four more by the end of the year. \The demand for this new plane is skyrocketing, with airlines around the world clamoring to get their hands on it. Aer Lingus and its Spanish sister airline, Iberia — both owned by the European airline conglomerate International Airlines Group (IAG) — are already flying the A321XLR, and Airbus has firm orders for more than 500 of the model, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Air Canada, American Airlines, Qantas Airways, and United Airlines are just a few of the airlines eagerly awaiting their first XLRs. While single-aisle planes have crisscrossed the North Atlantic for decades, the Boeing 757, a workhorse of the skies, is aging rapidly. The last 757 rolled off the production line in 2004, and airlines like United are eager to replace their aging fleets with the fuel-efficient XLRs. Other airlines, like Aer Lingus, see the XLR as a way to expand their transatlantic reach to new cities. \The XLR, once it replaces older 757s, has the potential to revolutionize transatlantic travel. It should allow airlines to bypass major hubs on either side of the Atlantic and open up new, nonstop routes between smaller cities. 'We're going to open up 10 to 12 new cities in Eastern Europe (and) North Africa out of Newark and (Washington) Dulles,' United CEO Scott Kirby said on The Air Show podcast in June. 'We're excited about it.' While Kirby didn't reveal specific destinations, United's recent expansion plans hint at some unconventional choices, at least from the United States, such as Bilbao, Spain, and Nuuk, Greenland. United expects its first of 50 A321XLRs in early 2026. American Airlines is also eyeing Europe with its incoming XLR fleet. 'We are looking at new, secondary Spain, Portugal, UK, anything in range — France, Germany, Scandinavia, all these smaller destinations that we think a wide-body just isn’t well-suited for,' Brian Znotins, who leads network planning at American, told The Points Guy in November. American's first XLR, due later this year, will initially be used on premium transcontinental flights between New York and both Los Angeles and San Francisco. \Beyond expansion opportunities, travelers could also see airlines using their XLRs to add extra flights on routes that currently only offer one daily flight. Or the plane could be used to extend a seasonal route; for example, one that flies only during the summer, to year-round status by flying during the lower-demand winter months. However, the exact number of new transatlantic and other routes the XLR will unlock remains to be seen. Safety modifications required by European regulators added weight to the plane, and it is widely acknowledged that these changes have reduced the estimated range of the jet to around 5,200 miles (4,500 nautical miles) from up to 5,400 miles (4,700 nautical miles). This range cut, while seemingly small, could mean the difference between flying from New York to most of Europe versus just Western Europe. 'The XLR is absolutely heavier than Airbus wanted it to be originally,' said Jon Ostrower, editor of The Air Current, on a recent episode of The Air Show. 'That really affected the heavily loaded long-range operations that airlines like Frontier wanted with 240 seats.' Discounter Frontier Airlines canceled its order for the XLR in August citing performance concerns. \'The airplane likely won’t have the range to do some of the routes people have hoped to see, like East Coast to Rome,' said Brett Snyder, president of the travel assistance service Cranky Concierge and author of the Cranky Flier blog. 'But it is enabling flying including Dublin to Nashville and Indianapolis. Over time, there will be more opportunity to stretch and try new things.' Most airlines seem unconcerned over the range cut. 'It’s only a concern during the peak summers,' says Ramiro Sequeira, the chief operating officer of Iberia, of the A321XLR’s capabilities. The carrier believes it can do everything it hoped to with the plane — if not more. Iberia was the first to fly the XLR, debuting the plane on flights between Madrid and Boston in November
AIRBUS A321XLR AER LINGUS NASHVILLE IRELAND TRANSATLANTIC ROUTES AVIATION INDUSTRY NEW AIRCRAFT TRAVEL
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