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Airbus A321

Airliner, stretched model of the A320 family

Summary

Airliner, stretched model of the A320 family

Field	Value
name	A321
logo	Logo Airbus A321.svg
image	File:Airbus A321-231(w) ‘N915US’ American Airlines (28442733186).jpg
image_caption	An A321-200 of American Airlines, the largest operator
aircraft_type	Narrow-body jet airliner
national_origin	Multi-national
manufacturer	Airbus
first_flight	11 March 1993
introduction	27 January 1994 with Lufthansa
produced
status	In service
primary_user	American Airlines
more_users	Delta Air Lines
IndiGo
China Southern Airlines
number_built	3,536
developed_from	Airbus A320
developed_into	Airbus A321neo

IndiGo China Southern Airlines

The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 239 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was the first derivative of the baseline A320 and entered service in 1994, about six years after the original A320. The aircraft shares a common type rating with all other Airbus A320-family variants, allowing A320-family pilots to fly the aircraft without the need for further training.

In December 2010, Airbus announced a new generation of the A320 family, the A320neo (new engine option). The similarly lengthened fuselage A321neo variant offers new, more efficient engines, combined with airframe improvements and the addition of winglets (called Sharklets by Airbus). The aircraft delivers fuel savings of up to 15%. The A321neo carries up to 244 passengers, with a maximum range of 4000 nmi for the long-range version when carrying no more than 206 passengers.

Final assembly of the aircraft takes place in Hamburg, Germany, Mobile, Alabama, United States, Tianjin, China, and Toulouse, France. , a total of 3,536 A321 airliners have been delivered, of which 3,453 are in service. In addition, another 5,312 A321neo aircraft are on firm order. American Airlines is the largest operator of the Airbus A321 with 302 examples in its fleet.

Development ==

The A321 entered service in January 1994 with [[Lufthansa]]; seen here is an A321-100.

The Airbus A321 was the first derivative of the A320, also known as the Stretched A320, A320-500 and A325. Its launch came on 24 November 1988, around the same time as the A320 entered service, after commitments for 183 aircraft from 10 customers were secured.

final assembly line]] 3 in the [[Airbus Hamburg-Finkenwerder]] plant

The maiden flight of the Airbus A321 came on 11 March 1993, when the prototype, registration F-WWIA, flew with IAE V2500 engines; the second prototype, equipped with CFM56-5B turbofans, flew in May 1993. Lufthansa and Alitalia were the first to order the stretched Airbuses, with 20 and 40 aircraft requested, respectively. The first of Lufthansa's V2500-A5-powered A321s arrived on 27 January 1994, while Alitalia received its first CFM56-5B-powered aircraft on 22 March 1994. The A321-100 entered service in January 1994 with Lufthansa.

Final assembly for the A321 was carried out in Germany (then West Germany), a first for any Airbus. This came after a dispute between the French, who claimed that the move would incur $150 million (€135 million) in unnecessary expenditure associated with the new plant, and the Germans, who claimed that it would be more productive for Airbus in the long run. The second production line was located in Hamburg, which later produced the smaller Airbus A319 and A318. For the first time, Airbus entered the bond market, through which it raised $480 million (€475 million) to finance development costs. An additional $180 million (€175 million) was borrowed from European Investment Bank and private investors.

The A321 is the largest variant of the A320 family. The A321-200's length exceeds 44.5 m, increasing maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) to 93000 kg. Wingspan remained unchanged, supplementing various wingtip devices. Two suppliers provided turbofan engines for the A321: CFM International with its CFM56 and International Aero Engines with the V2500 engine, both in the thrust range of 133 -.

Over 30 years since launch, the A321 MTOW grew by 20% from the 83 t -100 to the 101 t A321XLR, seating became 10% more dense with 244 seats, up by 24, and range doubled from 2300 to. By 2019, 4,200 had been ordered—one-quarter of all Airbus single-aisles—including 2,400 neos, one-third of all A320neo orders.

Design

The Airbus A321 is a narrow-body (single-aisle) aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear, powered by two wing pylon-mounted turbofan engines. It is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional tail unit having a single vertical stabilizer and rudder. Changes from the A320 include a fuselage stretch and some modifications to the wing. The fuselage was lengthened by a 4.27 m plug ahead of the wing and a 2.67 m plug behind it, making the A321 6.94 m longer than the A320. The length increase required the overwing window exits of the A320 to be converted into door exits and repositioned in front of and behind the wings. To maintain performance, double-slotted flaps and minor trailing edge modifications were included, increasing the wing area from 124 m2 to 128 m2. The centre fuselage and undercarriage were reinforced to accommodate a 9,600 kg increase in maximum takeoff weight, taking it to 83,000 kg.

Variants

The variants of A321ceo and A321neo family aircraft are mainly defined by its cabin layout and fuel configuration.

Airbus offers customers with only one fuel configuration with the A321-100.

Airbus offers customers with 3 different fuel configuration options with the A321-200: customers can select up to 2 auxiliary fuel tanks (ACT) in the after cargo hold.

Airbus offers customers with 4 different fuel configuration options with the standard A321neo: customers can select up to 1 auxiliary fuel tank (ACT) in the front cargo hold and up to 2 ACTs in the after cargo hold. The A321neo-ACF with 3 ACTs is exclusively branded as A321LR (Long Range).

Airbus offers customers with 2 different fuel configuration options with the A321XLR: customers can select up to 1 ACT in the front cargo hold.

Marketing name	Cabin	Fuel config	Fuel capacity	Cargo	Front
A321-100 CFMI	STD	—	—	18880 kg	10*LD3-45
A321-100 IAE	18605 kg	10*LD3-45
A321-200 CFMI	—	18880 kg	10*LD3-45
1ACT	21330 kg	9*LD3-45
2ACT	23780 kg	8*LD3-45
A321-200 IAE	—	18605 kg	10*LD3-45
1ACT	21055 kg	9*LD3-45
2ACT	23505 kg	8*LD3-45
A321neo	—	18440 kg	10*LD3-45
1ACT	20890 kg	9*LD3-45
2ACT	23340 kg	8*LD3-45
A321neo ACF	ACF	—	18510 kg	10*LD3-45
1ACT	20960 kg	9*LD3-45
2ACT	23410 kg	8*LD3-45
A321LR	1ACT	2ACT	25860 kg	7*LD3-45
A321XLR	—	1RCT	28753 kg	8*LD3-45
1ACT	1RCT	31202 kg	7*LD3-45

The A320's [[overwing exit]]s were replaced by type 'C' doors in front of and behind the wings for the A321, although some A321neos with the Cabin Flex arrangement kept the overwing exits.

A321-100

The original derivative of the A321, the A321-100, had shorter range than the A320 because no extra fuel tank was added to compensate for the increased weight. The MTOW of the A321-100 is 83,000 kg. The A321-100 entered service with Lufthansa in 1994. Only about 90 were produced; a few were later converted to the A321-200 variant.

A321-200

Airbus began development of the heavier and longer-range A321-200 in 1995 to give the A321 full-passenger transcontinental US range. This was achieved through higher thrust engines (V2533-A5 or CFM56-5B3), minor structural strengthening, and an increase in fuel capacity with the installation of one or two optional 2,990 L tanks in the rear underfloor hold. The additional fuel tanks increased the total capacity to 30,030 L. These modifications also increased the maximum takeoff weight of the A321-200 to 93,000 kg. This variant first flew in December 1996, and entered service with Monarch Airlines in April 1997. The following month, Middle East Airlines received its first A321-200 in May 1997. Its direct competitors include the 757-200 and the 737-900/900ER.

A321neo

Main article: Airbus A321neo

On 1 December 2010, Airbus launched the A320neo family (neo for New Engine Option) with 500 nmi more range and 15% better fuel efficiency, thanks to new CFM International LEAP-1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines and large sharklets. The lengthened A321neo prototype made its first flight on 9 February 2016. It received its type certification on 15 December 2016. The first entered service in May 2017 with Virgin America.

A321LR

Main article: Airbus A321neo#A321LR

From October 2014, Airbus started marketing a longer range, 97 t maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) variant with three auxiliary fuel tanks, and launched it as the A321LR (Long Range) on 13 January 2015, with a range of 4000 nmi in a two-class, 206 seat configuration, giving it 100 nmi more operational range than a Boeing 757-200.

On 31 January 2018, the variant completed its first flight, and on 2 October 2018, Airbus announced its certification. On 13 November 2018, the first A321LR went to operator Arkia.

A321XLR

Main article: Airbus A321neo#A321XLR

The A321XLR is an A321LR variant with a further increased MTOW intended to compete with the Boeing NMA, which has since been put on hold.

The variant was launched at the June 2019 Paris Air Show, with a range of 4700 nmi. It included a new permanent Rear Centre Tank (RCT) for more fuel, a strengthened landing gear for a 101 t MTOW and an optimised wing trailing-edge flap configuration to preserve take-off performance.

In June 2022, the A321XLR completed its first flight. Aer Lingus was originally to be the launch customer of the A321XLR. However, due to internal pilot contract disputes, the first A321XLR was instead delivered to Iberia on October 30, 2024. The first flight with passengers was on November 6, 2024. The first long-haul flight with passengers was on 14 November 2024, from Madrid to Boston.

Freighter conversion

Main article: Airbus A320 family#Passenger-to-freighter_(P2F)

While no freighter version of the A321 has been built new by Airbus, a first attempt of converting used A320/321 into freighter aircraft was undertaken by Airbus Freighter Conversion GmbH. The program, however, was canceled in 2011 before any aircraft were converted.

On 17 June 2015, ST Aerospace signed agreements with Airbus and EFW for a collaboration to launch the A320/A321 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion programme. The initial converted aircraft first flew on 22 January 2020. On 27 October 2020, the first A321-200P2F was delivered to launch operator Qantas Freight.

The A321-200PCF is a passenger to freighter conversion, developed by Precision Conversions and certificated in 2021.

Sine Draco Aviation also offers an A321 passenger-to-freighter conversion programme; its first conversion is expected for the first quarter of 2022.

On 15 March 2022, Lufthansa Cargo started to operate its A321F, a cargo variant of the A321.

Operators

Main article: List of Airbus A320 family operators

, 3,453 Airbus A321 aircraft (1701 ceo+1752 neo) were in service with more than 100 operators. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines operate the largest A321 fleets of 302 and 203 aircraft, respectively.

Orders and deliveries

Type	Orders	Deliveries	Total	Backlog	Total	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
1,784	—	1,784	—	—	—	—	22	9	38	99	183	222	184
7,064	5,312	1,752	143	361	317	264	199	178	168	102	20	—	—
(8,848)	(5,312)	(3,536)	(143)	(361)	(317)	(264)	(221)	(187)	(206)	(201)	(203)	(222)	(184)

Deliveries	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995
150	102	83	66	51	87	66	51	30	17	35	33	35	49	28	33	35	22	16	22	16
—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
(150)	(102)	(83)	(66)	(51)	(87)	(66)	(51)	(30)	(17)	(35)	(33)	(35)	(49)	(28)	(33)	(35)	(22)	(16)	(22)	(16)

*Data *

Accidents and incidents

Main article: Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A320 family

For the Airbus A321, 32 aviation accidents and incidents have occurred, including six hull-loss accidents or criminal occurrences with a total of 377 fatalities as of August 2019.

Specifications

Variant	A321	url= http://www.airbus.com/content/dam/corporate-topics/publications/backgrounders/Airbus-Family-Figures-booklet.pdf	publisher= Airbus	date= July 2017	title= Airbus Family figures	access-date= 27 March 2019	archive-date= 18 February 2018	archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180218232456/http://www.airbus.com/content/dam/corporate-topics/publications/backgrounders/Airbus-Family-Figures-booklet.pdf	url-status= live }}
Two
url= https://fr.scribd.com/doc/30183955/All-About-Airbus-A-320-Family	title= All About the Airbus A320 Family	date= 2009	publisher= Airbus	access-date= 17 November 2016	archive-date= 11 September 2016	archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160911195001/https://fr.scribd.com/doc/30183955/All-About-Airbus-A-320-Family	url-status= live }}	206 (16J @ 36in + 190Y @ 30in)
220 @ 28in	url= http://www.ausbt.com.au/airbus-reveals-new-a320neo-layout	title= Airbus reveals new A321neo layout: New 'Cabin-Flex' and larger doors	publisher= Australian business traveller	date= 13 June 2014	access-date= 27 March 2019	archive-date= 22 August 2016	archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160822114327/http://www.ausbt.com.au/airbus-reveals-new-a320neo-layout	url-status= live }}	244 @ 28in
51.70 m3 / 10×LD3-45s
44.51 m
35.80 m
122.4 m2 area, 25° sweep
11.76 m
3.95 by 4.14 m width × height, 3.70 m wide cabin
93.5 t	97 t	101 t
{{#expr:73.8-48.5}} t	25.5 t
48.5 t	{{#expr:75.6-25.5}} t
24050 -	23490 -	23490 -	32940 L
CFM56-5B, 68.3 in fan
IAE V2500-A5, 63.5 in fan	CFM LEAP-1A, 78 in (1.98 m) fan
PW1100G-JM, 81 in (2.06 m) fan
133 -	143.05 -
Cruise: 0.78 Mach
Max.: 0.82 Mach
39100 -
3,200 nmi	3,500 nmi	4,000 nmi	4,700 nmi

Engines

Aircraft model	Certification date	Engines	Take-off thrust	Max. continuous
A321-111	27 May 1994	CFM56-5B1	133.44 kN	129.40 kN
A321-112	15 February 1994	CFM56-5B2 or 5B2/P	137.89 kN	129.40 kN
A321-131	17 December 1993	IAE V2530-A5	133.00 kN	119.88 kN
A321-211	20 March 1997	CFM56-5B3 or 5B3/P or 5B3/2P	142.34 kN	129.40 kN
A321-212	31 August 2001	CFM56-5B1 or 5B1/P or 5B1/2P	133.44 kN	129.40 kN
A321-213	31 August 2001	CFM56-5B2 or 5B2/P	137.89 kN	129.40 kN
A321-231	20 March 1997	IAE V2533-A5	140.55 kN	119.88 kN
A321-232	31 August 2001	IAE V2530-A5	133.00 kN	119.88 kN
A321-251N	15 December 2016	CFM LEAP-1A32	143.05 kN	119.88 kN
A321-252N	18 December 2017	CFM LEAP-1A30	143.05 kN	119.88 kN
A321-253N	3 March 2017	CFM LEAP-1A33	143.05 kN	119.88 kN
A321-271N	15 December 2016	PW1133G-JM	147.28 kN	145.81 kN
A321-272N	23 May 2017	PW1130G-JM	147.28 kN	145.81 kN
A321-251NX	22 March 2018	CFM LEAP-1A32	143.05 kN	119.88 kN
A321-252NX	22 March 2018	CFM LEAP-1A30	143.05 kN	119.88 kN
A321-253NX	22 March 2018	CFM LEAP-1A33	143.05 kN	119.88 kN
A321-271NX	22 March 2018	PW1133G-JM	147.28 kN	145.81 kN
A321-272NX	22 March 2018	PW1130G-JM	147.28 kN	145.81 kN
A321-251N	1 March 2017	CFM LEAP-1A32	143.05 kN	140.96 kN
A321-253N	3 March 2017	CFM LEAP-1A33	143.05 kN	140.96 kN
A321-272N	23 May 2017	PW 1130G-JM	147.28 kN	145.81 kN
A321-252N	18 December 2017	CFM LEAP-1A30	143.05 kN	140.96 kN
A321-251NX	22 March 2018	CFM LEAP-1A32	143.05 kN	140.96 kN
A321-252NX	22 March 2018	CFM LEAP-1A30	143.05 kN	140.96 kN
A321-253NX	22 March 2018	CFM LEAP-1A33	143.05 kN	140.96 kN
A321-271NX	22 March 2018	PW 1133G-JM	147.28 kN	145.81 kN
A321-272NX	22 March 2018	PW 1130G-JM	147.28 kN	145.81 kN --

Notes

References

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Wikipedia Source

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