Wizz Air sends its first A321XLR to the UK
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We have covered the Airbus A321XLR before on HfP.
The original version, the A321LR, has already started to change transatlantic travel. Aer Lingus is using it to fly direct from Dublin to the US East Coast. TAP Air Portugal has been doing the same from Lisbon.
A (relatively) cheap single-aisle low-capacity aircraft means many more routes become financially viable.
The A321XLR does what it says on the tin – flies even further than the A321LR. Aer Lingus is about to announce new US routes from Dublin as its first XLRs arrive, allowing it to target even more mid-size US cities. Iberia will be using them to Boston and Washington from mid-November.
Wizz Air is, I think, the first airline to use the XLR to fly east from the UK or Ireland.
It has just announced daily flights from London Gatwick to Jeddah, starting on 31st March and using an A321XLR.
Jeddah is 2,930 miles making this the longest low cost carrier flight from the UK. This is peanuts for an aircraft that can, on paper, do 4,700 nautical miles, although in reality no-one will fly it this far.
Wizz Air is also launching Milan to Abu Dhabi which is a similar distance, with fares from €99 each way. I suspect other Middle Eastern routes will soon follow.
It remains to be seen how many holidaymakers would swap Glasgow to Dubai on Emirates for Glasgow to Dubai on a single-aisle Wizz Air aircraft if the cost was noticeably lower. Probably enough to make it attractive and sell all 239 seats per flight.
In total Wizz Air has 47 A321XLR aircraft on order, with eight due for delivery next year.
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