Subscription required

By Bjorn Fehrm

November 23, 2023, © Leeham News: We do an article series about what can be the subsequent development for Airbus' most popular aircraft, the A321neo. We looked at different changes to the aircraft in previous articles and the economics in short haul configuration. Now, we compare the capacity and economics of the different variants when configured for long-haul missions.

We use our Airliner Performance and Cost Model (APCM) to look at passenger capacity, seat-mile costs, and range.

Summary:

• A stretched A321 is limited as a long-haul aircraft, as it needs additional fuel and additional takeoff weight to carry the fuel.
• Long-haul variants of a stretched A321 will need the XLR center tank or the new, larger wing of an A32x to extend the range to long-haul values.