The era of imposing passenger aircraft is officially over at Airbus and Boeing. Airlines have made it clear that they want smaller planes that can carry more passengers farther than ever before.
Airbus is leading the industry in this department with a series of improvements to its largest single-aisle aircraft, the A321. First came the Airbus A321neo with new engines and aerodynamic features that enhance the A321's range and performance capabilities while reducing its operating costs.
Airlines quickly realized the potential of the A321neo to make some of their long-haul routes more efficient by downsizing their wide-body aircraft. A flight between New York and London could be cheaper using an A321neo than an Airbus A330, for example, with fewer seats to fill to make a profit.
And the trend is growing rapidly in the transatlantic market. TAP Air Portugal, Aer Lingus, JetBlue Airways, Air Transat and La Compagnie regularly fly the A321neo and A321neoLR between the US and Western Europe.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines is set to take the aircraft to new heights with scheduled flights between Copenhagen, Denmark and the US East Coast from March 2022. The A321neoLR allows airlines to fly up to 206 passengers up to 4,000 nautical miles.
New cabin designs are also allowing airlines to be creative in how they fill their planes. Some airlines are opting to cram as many passengers as possible into an economy class cabin, while others are experimenting with new premium cabins.
The A321neo especially is proving to be a favorite with ultra-low cost airlines who can fly their routes even cheaper than before, while filling their aircraft to the brim.
A321neo customer Wizz Air brought the best-selling single-aisle aircraft to the Dubai Airshow in November. Take a look inside and see how the ultra-low-cost carrier uses the aircraft.
Airbus had received 3,958 orders for its A321neo aircraft through November 2020, 376 of which were from Wizz Air.
Source:Airbus
Powering the aircraft are two Pratt & Whitney GTF, or geared turbofan, engines. Another option for the A321neo is the CFM International LEAP-1A engine.
This Wizz Air Airbus A321neo was delivered by Airbus in September 2020 and has been flying across the Middle East, Europe and Asia for Abu Dhabi dvision airline ever since.
Airbus claims the A321 can “comfortably” accommodate between 180 and 220 passengers in a two-class configuration and up to 244 passengers in the highest density configuration.
Source:Airbus
Wizz Air comes close to the maximum with 239 seats on its newest A321neo aircraft, including those based in Abu Dhabi.
Airbus' "Cabin-Flex" configuration, which changes the location of exit rows and the layout of service kitchens, allows for high-density seating layouts such as that employed by Wizz Air.
But with so many seats, there are trade-offs, particularly in seat space. Seats are “slimline” with minimal padding to increase capacity.
Legroom in each seat is less than 30 inches and the seats do not recline.
There are only very basic amenities in each seat, including a tray table, coat hook and a backrest pocket.
The fewer amenities a seat has, the less space it takes up.
Exit row seats and front row seats are the only seats that offer extra legroom.
There are so many seats that the last row does not have its own window.
The aircraft's aft galley is configured with a minimal flight attendant workstation that sits opposite the two restrooms.
Wizz Air flies a mix of long and short routes with the aircraft. Flights from Abu Dhabi to Belgrade Serbia, for example, exceed six hours, while flights from Abu Dhabi to Muscat, Oman can take less than an hour.
And Wizz Air fares are known to be incredibly cheap, and sales can drop ticket prices as low as $12 one way.
The economics of the A321neo help Wizz Air keep prices low, but the airline is also betting that travelers will buy extra amenities, whether it's snacks and drinks on board or baggage allowance.
Airlines are required to have more flight attendants on board an aircraft as the number of seats increases. But smaller planes require fewer flight attendants overall.
The cockpit of the A321neo is almost identical to that found on Airbus A320 family aircraft, allowing pilots to fly all aircraft from the A318 to the A321neo with only minor differences in training.
Not all airlines are following Wizz Air's lead, especially those that use the aircraft to fly transatlantic routes. Some airlines, recognizing aircraft space constraints, opted for low-density configurations with fewer than 200 seats.
La Compagnie, the French airline, equipped its A321neo aircraft in a business class configuration.
A total of 76 seats in a 2-2 configuration makes the aircraft feel more like a private jet than a commercial airliner.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines offers a three-class configuration on its A321neoLR aircraft, including business class, premium economy class and economy class.
A total of just 157 seats gives passengers more space on board and helps minimize the physiological impact of flying long distances on a single-aisle aircraft.
JetBlue Airways started operating the A321neo in 2019 and has two versions of the aircraft, the A321neo and the A321neoLR, each with its own layout.
David Slotnick/Business Informant
The A321neo can be found flying on JetBlue's main route network in the Western Hemisphere, while the newer A321neoLR is only used for transatlantic flights between the US and Europe on JetBlue's longer routes.
JetBlue opted for a 200-seat medium density configuration in an economy class configuration for the A321neo. Standard economy seats offer 32 inches of recline, while Extra Legroom seats offer between 35 and 38 inches of recline.
Source:SeatGuru
But for the A321neoLRs flying to Europe, JetBlue opted for a low-density configuration of 138 seats split between a Business Class cabin and an Economy Class cabin.
A total of 24 seats can be found in Mint business class, one seat on each side of the aisle to allow privacy and direct aisle access.
The remaining 114 seats offer a mix of standard seats with 32 inches of recline and extra legroom seats with 35 inches of legroom.
JetBlue offers 101 fewer seats than Wizz Air on the same aircraft and, as a result, can offer a completely different customer experience. All seats recline fully, have adjustable headrests and backrest entertainment screens.
But while not all A321neo aircraft may not look like the ones flying for Wizz Air, the aircraft is becoming more widespread in the skies.
As of November 2020, a total of 635 aircraft have been delivered to customers and thousands more are yet to be built.
Source:Airbus
Airlines have only scratched the surface of what they can do with the A321neo. From New York, all of Western Europe, northern South America and West Africa are within reach of the A321neoLR in the right conditions.
The Airbus A321XLR, scheduled for arrival in 2023, will extend the aircraft's range to 4,700 nautical miles, or about 11 hours of flight time.
It will be up to travelers to decide whether they can take long-haul flights on aircraft they are more accustomed to flying in five hours or less.
But until now, airlines have had no problems filling seats on these aircraft.
