Wizz Air will be among the first operators of the GTF-powered A321XLR, which is set to be certified before the end of 2024.
Wizz Air has confirmed plans to base its first Airbus A321XLR aircraft in Milan and launch a new service to Abu Dhabi, which will become the farthest route in the Hungarian ULCC’s network.
Flights on the sector connecting Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) and Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport (AUH) will begin on June 2, 2025. Frequencies using the extra-long range narrowbody will be daily.
The airline will go head-to-head in the market with Etihad Airways, which currently provides 10 roundtrips per week using Boeing 787-9 equipment. Wizz claims it will be able to offer fares that are 70% lower than the competition.
“The Airbus A321XLR is the most cost-efficient aircraft of its class,” Wizz Air CEO József Váradi says. “We are already flying several 5-6-hr.-long ultra-low-cost routes with great satisfaction to our customers, and the XLR will extend our outstanding value proposition to 7-8-hr.-long flights.”
With a range of up to 4,700 nm, the A321XLR will allow airlines to operate long-haul routes with lower fuel consumption and operating costs, making it a game-changer for carriers like Wizz Air. At 2,544 nm, the route between MXP and AUH will become the farthest in the airline’s network, eclipsing the current farthest that links Rome and Abu Dhabi by 200 nm, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data.
The A321XLR equipped with CFM Leap 1A engines received its type certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in July. EASA certification of the Pratt & Whitney GTF-powered version that Wizz will operate is expected by the end of the year.
Váradi has previously said that the carrier intends to use the A321XLR to offer nonstop Europe-Asia flights, and to build up its Abu Dhabi base as a connecting hub.
The airline has 47 of the A321neo variant on order, combining two agreements placed in 2019 and another in 2021. The carrier expects to receive eight A321XLRs during the 2025 calendar year.
Wizz Air’s initial plans for the A321XLR come after launch customer Iberia confirmed that it will deploy the aircraft from Madrid Adolfo Suarez-Barajas Airport (MAD) to Boston Logan International Airport from Nov. 14. A second A321XLR route from MAD to Washington Dulles International Airport is due to start in mid-January 2025.
More than 500 A321XLRs have been ordered so far, according to the Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database.
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