LONDON – Air Canada has ordered six Airbus A321XLRs from Airbus. The orders had previously been shown as undisclosed in Airbus’ order book. Thanks to this deal, Air Canada’s A321XLR fleet will be 26 aircraft. Leasing companies will provide Air Canada with another 20 airframes.

“Air Canada is committed to further strengthen its market-leading position, especially through investments in new technology. The acquisition of the state-of-the-art Airbus A321XLR is an important element of this strategy and will drive our core priorities of elevating the customer experience, advancing our environmental goals, network expansion and increasing our overall cost efficiency. This order also shows that Air Canada is emerging strongly from the pandemic and is ideally positioned to grow, compete and thrive in a reshaped global aviation industry” said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada.

Fleet progression

Air Canada currently operate the Airbus A319, A320 and A321 CEO variants. The A321XLR is a logical progression to a new and more eco-friendly fleet.

“The exceptional versatility and performance of the A321XLR will enable Air Canada to further develop its network expansion in a sustainable way with increased efficiencies and reduced CO2 emissions,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International. “We thank Air Canada for its confidence in us and are delighted by the step-up in our longstanding relationship.”

It is worth noting, however, that they have only gone for the A321XLR. Meanwhile, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 is partially replacing and complementing the A320 fleet. This fleet strategy shows that whilst Air Canada is still a major Airbus short-haul airline, they’re also not afraid to buy from Boeing.