Aer Lingus Will Get 2 New Airbus A321XLRs In Q4 2024

Summary

• An Aer Lingus executive has confirmed that the Irish carrier should welcome two Airbus A321XLR aircraft by the end of 2024.
• However, Iberia has remained the launch customer of the type, with the Spanish airline planning to welcome its A321XLR in a few weeks’ time.
• Previously, Aer Lingus was the planned launch customer of the aircraft.

One of Aer Lingus ’ executives has publicly stated that the Irish airline was scheduled to receive two Airbus A321XLR aircraft by the end of the year, with deliveries scheduled during the last quarter of the year.

The deliveries were enabled by the new collective labor agreement between Aer Lingus and the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA).

Two A321XLR deliveries

Adrian Dunne, the chief operating officer (COO) of Aer Lingus, confirmed the development in a comment on LinkedIn, stating that following the recent agreement with its pilots, the Irish carrier now had the “cost certainties” to welcome two A321XLR deliveries.

Dunne added that Aer Lingus should welcome at least two aircraft of the type in Q4, with the COO teasing potential new routes that would be enabled by the single-aisle long-range aircraft, which the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had certified just recently.

An Aer Lingus spokesperson affirmed the development, saying in a statement to Simple Flying that the two A321XLRs should join the airline in Q4.

“Aer Lingus is continuing to assess the implications of the financial damage caused by the pilot industrial dispute in the context of the current competitive environment and the passenger cap at Dublin Airport. This includes a review of the weaker parts of the airline’s network and its cost base.”

As a result, the airline decided to cut frequencies on its Dublin Airport (DUB) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) route, reducing the number of flights by at least two daily departures starting during the upcoming Winter season, with the carrier citing underperformance on the route following the pandemic, which was preceded by Brexit in February 2020.

First delivery still going to Iberia

However, the recent pay deal between Aer Lingus and IALPA has not affected the delivery schedule of the first-ever A321XLR.

According to an Iberia spokesperson’s statement to Simple Flying, as was planned, the Spanish airline will be taking delivery of its first A321XLR in the coming weeks.

Both Aer Lingus and Iberia are part of the International Airlines Group (IAG), which abandoned its attempt to acquire the full shareholding of another airline, Air Europa.

Nevertheless, as a pilot strike had loomed – and eventually materialized – at Aer Lingus due to pay, IAG decided to divert the first A321XLR delivery from Iberia to Aer Lingus.

The latter airline confirmed the development in April, saying that it could not provide the group with cost structure assurances that were necessary for IAG to allocate its planned capital expenditure (CapEx) to Aer Lingus.

Later, IAG assigned the first-ever A321XLR delivery to Iberia, which announced in May that it was most likely to operate the type on flights to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).

Confusing liveries

The change of mind at the group level has resulted in some interesting results at Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport (XFW), where Airbus has been assembling the A321neo and its derivatives, including the A321XLR.

For example, the A321XLR, with the manufacturer serial number (MSN) 11348, was initially spotted outside the Final Assembly Line (FAL) with an Aer Lingus tail and the airline’s green winglets.

However, when Airbus’ technicians installed the engines on the aircraft, the CFM International LEAP-1A had an Iberia cowling despite the Aer Lingus-colored tail and winglets.

Another Iberia A321XLR, MSN 11504, was also later spotted at XFW. The aircraft, which has had the test registration D-AVYR, still has not flown. The same airframe was shown when Iberia showcased its first A321XLR in a video share on X, formerly known as Twitter, when the aircraft was leaving the paint hangar.

Meanwhile, MSN 11348, which has had the test registration D-AZXY, operated its first flight on July 4, and since then, has accumulated eight flights and 16 hours and 41 minutes of test flights, according to the Aviation Flights Group.