IATA 321ICAO A321

Airbus A321

Airbus

The stretched, high-capacity member of the A320 family.

First flight

1993

Category

Narrow-body jet

Seating

180–220 passengers (typical)

Range

7,400 km (A321neo)

Engines

Two CFM56 or IAE V2500 (ceo); CFM LEAP-1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1100G (neo)

Status

In production

The Airbus A321 is a narrow-body, single-aisle commercial jet airliner and the largest member of the A320 family. It was developed as a stretched variant of the A320, offering increased passenger capacity and payload while retaining a high degree of commonality with other family members, reducing training and operational costs for airlines. The aircraft entered service in 1994 and has since become one of the best-selling commercial jets in aviation history. Multiple variants have been developed, including the A321ceo (Current Engine Option) and the A321neo (New Engine Option), the latter featuring more fuel-efficient engines and offering significantly improved range and economics. The A321XLR, an extra-long-range variant, extends the aircraft's reach further, enabling transatlantic and other long thin routes previously requiring wide-body jets. Its commonality with the broader A320 family makes it highly attractive to operators already flying Airbus narrow-body fleets.

Notable operators

Major operators include American Airlines, United Airlines, Lufthansa, IndiGo, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, and Air Asia.

Notable facts

›The A321 made its maiden flight on 11 March 1993 and entered service with Lufthansa in January 1994.
›It shares approximately 95% commonality with the A320, allowing pilots to operate both types on a single type rating.
›The A321neo family (A321neo, A321LR, A321XLR) significantly extends range, with the XLR targeting around 8,700 km.
›The A321XLR is designed to enable narrowbody aircraft to operate transatlantic routes such as Europe to the US East Coast.
›As of the early 2020s, the A321neo variants account for the majority of new A321 orders, with thousands on backlog.

This profile is AI-generated for general information only. Specifications may be inaccurate or vary by variant/operator — verify with the manufacturer before relying on them.

Encyclopaedia

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.

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