Airbus A321XLR Saudia Airlines
Looking at the eight destinations that Saudia Airlines has announced for its freshly delivered Airbus A321XLRs, something is interesting: not a single one is new to the schedule. But that is exactly the plan of the Jeddah-based carrier, which intends to operate the XLR to right-size the network.
Saudia took delivery of the first A321XLR on Saturday, May 24, and immediately flew the aircraft to its new home base. The airline has 15 XLRs on order since it announced the agreement during the 2019 Paris Airshow, when it bought 65 A321neos plus 35 options. Deliveries of the CFM LEAP-powered XLRs are scheduled through 2027.
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The XLR network identifies what it means by “aligning aircraft capacity to market demand”. It currently shows eight destinations from Jeddah and Riyadh. In Europe, the XLR will operate to Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Vienna, Frankfurt and Geneva. Moscow is the only destination in Russia, and so is Male (Maldives) in Central Asia.
All destinations are currently served by Boeing 787-9 with 299 seats or the standard A321neo with 188 seats, but their capacity is often too big to satisfy demand during the day. The XLR has 144 seats, of which 120 are in Economy Class, and 24 are in Thompson Business Class suites. This product was unveiled four years ago and targets Saudia’s premium customers. On the XLR, it means Saudia can offer the same high standard on a long-haul narrowbody aircraft.
The current list of destinations will likely change once more XLRs are delivered. Saudia said earlier that Dakar is also on its plans, but the Senegalese capital is not on the initial score.
Saudia is the first A321XLR in the Middle East region, although this was not the original plan. Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) had intended to be the launch operator after converting four aircraft to the extra-long range version in 2019. Still, deliveries are uncertain due to the situation in the country. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi also planned to operate XLRs, but the parent airline closed down the subsidiary last September.
Saudia has unfilled orders for 12 out of 42 A320neos and 116 out of 128 A321neos and XLRs.
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