Iberia Has Taken Delivery Of The 1st Airbus A321XLR

By Thomas Boon - Managing Editor | Simple Flying

The Spanish flag carrier Iberia has taken delivery of the world's 1st Airbus A321XLR bound for passenger service. The handover of the aircraft registered EC-OIL took place earlier today at Airbus' Finkenwerder site in Hamburg, Germany.

The Airbus A321XLR is set to be a game-changer for aviation. The narrowbody has an additional range, meaning that it can be used in place of a widebody during the low season for specific routes. All sorts of airlines, from full-service carriers to LCC giants, are lining up to take the new aircraft, and now a chain reaction of deliveries has begun.

EC-OIL has been delivered

Iberia took delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR in Hamburg earlier today. According to fleet data from Cirium, the aircraft, which has the registration EC-OIL, took its first flight on October 1st, meaning it is less than one month old. This delivery is the first of eight that the carrier expects to take delivery of by the end of 2025.

Commenting on the delivery, Christian Scherer, who is the CEO of Airbus Commercial Aircraft, remarked,

“Five years in the making, the newest member of the Airbus family is all set to join its first operator, Iberia. The A321XLR will enable countless new non-stop destinations; it truly opens a new chapter in air connectivity. It is another proud “first” for all of us at Airbus in our constant quest to innovate and bring value to our customers. We are pleased to share this special moment with a special customer: gracias y felicidades Iberia.”

What to expect from the new aircraft

Iberia is kitting the Airbus A321XLR out as a long-haul aircraft in a narrowbody airframe. While its standard A321s fit up to 232 passengers in a completely 3-3 layout, the XLR will have a 1-1 layout of 14 lie-flat seats in the front of the aircraft, followed by 168 economy seats in the traditional 3-3 layout behind the dividing bulkhead.

According to our friends at Head For Points, Iberia has opted for the VantageSOLO seat from Thompson Aero Seating. This is the same business class seat JetBlue operates on its transatlantic services. The cabin is also equipped with XL overhead bins boosting luggage capacity by more than half.

The Airbus A321XLR is finally here

It's great to see the Airbus A321XLR finally being delivered after some hiccups along the way, both from Airbus and customers. Airbus launched the A321XLR at the 2019 Paris Air Show, scooping up plenty of orders throughout that show. As of today more than 500 XLRs are on order.

At the time of its launch, the first XLR was expected to be delivered in 2023, but that eventually slipped to early 2024. In February, we found out that the final delivery would take place in late 2024 due to a delay in finalizing certification.

However, there were also issues with the customers themselves. Fellow IAG airline Aer Lingus had been slated to take delivery of the world's first A321XLR, though pilot strikes this summer led to the honor being handed to Iberia.