Canada's Air Transat to close Vancouver base from 3Q23

Canada's Air Transat to wet-lease an A321

Chile's LATAM Airlines orders five A321neo(XLR)s

LATAM Airlines Group has ordered five A321-200NY(XLR)s from lessor Air Lease Corporation with deliveries tentatively scheduled to start in fall 2025 and continue through 2026. The announcement comes after the South American carrier holding ordered seventeen A321-200Ns during the 2022 Farnborough International Air Show in July.

LATAM did not reveal on which of its AOCs - LATAM Airlines, LATAM Airlines Brasil, LATAM Airlines Colombia, LATAM Airlines Ecuador, or LATAM Airlines Perú - it will allocate the five aircraft. It is its first commitment for any extended-range narrowbody type. The XLR is proving to be a popular platform for carriers from the southern part of South America - in Chile, both SKY Airline (Chile) and JetSMART have units of the type on order. The advertised range of the XLR, which has yet to be certified, would allow carriers to operate non-stop services from hubs such as Santiago de Chile, Sao Paulo Guarulhos, Rio de Janeiro International, or Buenos Ministro Pistarini to the United...

Egypt's Red Sea Airlines secures AOC, commences operations

Canada's Air Transat to add A321neo(XLR)s from 4Q25

Air Transat (TS, Montréal Trudeau) continues to recover from the worst of the pandemic and is steadily rebuilding its all-Airbus fleet. In the last quarter, the Canadian leisure airline secured four A321-200NY(XLR)s which, Annick Guérard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Transat said, will bring it all the advantages of the A321neo(LR), including cost and environmental benefits, but offer a longer range.

The XLR order, announced on September 8, will see Air Lease Corporation supply the aircraft from its order book with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac). Three of the planes will be delivered from the end of 2025 through 2026. There is also the option for a fourth XLR to be delivered in 2027. The commitment is Air Transat's first since 2018. Guérard says the deal signals a key milestone in the renewal and simplification of Air Transat's fleet, a program underway since 2017.

"Along with A321neo(LR)s, XLRs figure as a cornerstone of Transat's 2022-2026 strategic plan. These aircraft can improve the quality of our transatlantic program...