Airlines Azores Airlines takes delivery of first A321LR

The latest A321LR (Longer Range) operator is Azores Airlines. The carrier has taken delivery of its first LR aircraft at Hamburg-Finkenwerder yesterday. Altogether, the airline has ordered three A321LR, which all are on lease from Air Lease Corporation (ALC).

Azores has configured its A321LR with a two-class version. 16 passengers can be accommodated in business class and 174 in economy class. The class offers wide-body comfort is a single-aisle aircraft cabin, said Airbus.

The A321LR will help Azores to further grow its international route network. The strategy of growth sees the aircraft flying from the Azores to various destinations in Africa and North America. This month, airline concurrent TAP Air Portugal started serving New York with the A321LR.

Azores´ A321LR is being powered by state-of-the-art high-bypass CFM LEAP-1A engines, which are more environmentally friendly compared to engines for previous generations. The overall operating costs of the A321 have been bettered over the past years with new aerodynamical advantages.

Destinations that are up to 4,000 nautical miles away can be served with the new aircraft. This allows operators like Azores Airlines to enter new and unserved markets. Moreover, now long-haul markets can be flown into without the need of using large aircraft.

On Paris Air Show 2019, Airbus announced the A321XLR. The latest version of the popular A321 family offers capability for additional fuel tanks. Operators can therefore use the aircraft on even longer routes. Airbus collected over 200 XLR orders in Paris.

Azores Airlines is a Portuguese carrier that operates an all-Airbus fleet with one A320, two A321neos and one A321LR. This month, the airlines stored its A330-200. Last year, the carrier bid farewell to its A310. Both aircraft used to fly transatlantic routes. With the A321neo and the A321LR, this era has now come to an end.