United Takes Delivery of Its First A321XLR

The airline has ordered 50 of the type.

A rendering of United's A321XLR. (Credit: Airbus)
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Key Takeaways:

United on Wednesday took delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR, becoming the second U.S. airline with the long-range variant.

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed the aircraft, registered as N64321, departed Hamburg and arrived in Tampa, Florida, Wednesday evening. The jet will have its Starlink wireless internet antenna installed in Tampa.

Neither United nor Airbus have commented on the aircraft’s delivery.

United has ordered 50 A321XLRs. It plans to deploy them on routes to smaller cities in Europe and North Africa, and to South America. The type will replace United’s aging Boeing 757s.

The airline has said it expects to take delivery of 12 A321XLRs this year.

American, the first U.S. carrier to receive the type, took delivery of its first -XLR last summer. It entered service in December.

Zach Vasile

Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.
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