New aircraft order will support North West manufacturing jobs

Airbus has received an order for six A321XLR aircraft from Air Canada.

All wings for Airbus commercial aircraft are made at its manufacturing site in Broughton, near Chester, where around 4,500 staff are employed.

The order takes Air Canada’s A321XLR fleet to 26 aircraft, including 20 additional A321XLRs the carrier is acquiring through lessors.

Michael Rousseau, president and chief executive of Air Canada, said: “Air Canada is committed to further strengthen its market leading position, especially through investments in new technology. The acquisition of the state of the art Airbus A321XLR is an important element of this strategy and will drive our core priorities of elevating the customer experience, advancing our environmental goals, network expansion and increasing our overall cost efficiency.

“This order also shows that Air Canada is emerging strongly from the pandemic and is ideally positioned to grow, compete and thrive in a reshaped global aviation industry.”

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Christian Scherer, Airbus chief commercial officer and head of Airbus International, said: “The exceptional versatility and performance of the A321XLR will enable Air Canada to further develop its network expansion in a sustainable way with increased efficiencies and reduced CO2 emissions.”

Airbus says the new Airbus A321XLR aircraft is an ideal replacement for older and less fuel-efficient aircraft. The latest generation single aisle jet will allow Air Canada to add new destinations in the most sustainable way.

The A321XLR is the next evolutionary step in the A320neo (new engine option) family of aircraft, meeting market requirements for increased range and payload in a single aisle aircraft, and creating more value for airlines by enabling economically viable service on longer routes than any comparable aircraft model. It will enable services from Eastern Canada to a much larger selection of European destinations.

By the end of February this year the A320neo family had accumulated nearly 7,900 orders from more than 120 customers worldwide. A321XLR orders stood at 515 from 25 customers.