Air Canada welcomes its first A321XLR
From
Aviation HQ@2:292/854 to
All on Sat Apr 25 17:07:51 2026
Air Canada took delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR on Friday. The aircraft is the first of a total of thirty machines of this type that the airline ordered in 2022.
The A321XLR, with registration C-GXLR, departed from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport shortly before 3:00 PM and headed for Windsor. After a flight of over eight hours, the aircraft landed at its destination.
Before the aircraft enters commercial service, it will undergo various operations and maintenance checks. The crews will also be trained on the new type.
Air Canada plans to deploy the A321XLR on transatlantic routes starting this coming summer. The airline will start with direct flights from Montreal to Mallorca. Connections to Toulouse and Edinburgh, among others, will follow later. Tenerife was also recently announced as a destination, the only direct flight from North America to the Canary Islands.
Of the thirty aircraft ordered, fifteen are being purchased directly from Airbus. The remaining fifteen are coming via leasing company SMBC Aviation Capital. The first A321XLR is also a leased aircraft.
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* Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)