Air Transat To Add 10 Airbus A321LRs To Fleet

Canadian leisure airline Air Transat will add 10 Airbus A321LR long range aircraft to its fleet under a lease agreement.

The A321LRs, to be leased through AerCap for a period of 12 years, will be delivered during 2019 and 2020. Airbus said Air Transat will be the first North American operator of the A321LR.

Air Transat will operate the new aircraft on sun destinations and its established transatlantic routes. It will offer club and economy classes in a two-class layout, seating 200 in total.

The A321LR is the long range version of Airbus's largest A320-family member. It extends the aircraft’s range to up to 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km). Air Transat said it will use the new aircraft to replace its older and less fuel efficient A310s.

"The A321neo LRs will perfectly complete our fleet of A330s and B737s," Transat chief executive Jean-Marc Eustache said. "These aircraft are also an ideal solution for replacing our A310s."

Air Transat has a fleet of 31 permanent aircraft which it uses in a "flexible-fleet model", allowing it to fly more wide-body aircraft for the busy summer season, and narrow-body aircraft in winter for flights to winter sun destinations.