Air Canada mulls an A321neo order

Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) is in early discussions about a potential order for between ten and twenty A321neo, sources with direct knowledge told Bloomberg.

The carrier is reportedly discussing the order with lessors rather than directly with the manufacturer. It is interested in the “longer-range” variant of the Airbus narrowbody, although the sources did not specify whether it concerned the A321-200NX(LR) – which is already in service – or the yet-to-be-certified A321-200NX(XLR).

In May 2021, President and Chief Executive Mike Rousseau said the A321-200NX(LR) would “potentially” have a place in Air Canada’s fleet.

The tentative order would mark Air Canada’s return to Airbus’s fold in regard to its future narrowbody fleet. Although the carrier, together with its Air Canada rouge subsidiary, currently operates twenty-six A319-100s, twenty-three A320-200s, and twenty-nine A321-200s, its new-generation orders are limited to forty B737-8s (of which 32 have already been delivered). Air Canada’s order book with Airbus comprises exclusively forty-five A220-300s, of which twenty-seven have already been delivered.

Currently, Canada’s only operator of A320neo Family aircraft is Air Transat (TS, Montréal Trudeau) with ten A321-200NX(LR)s and seven more on order from Airbus, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows.