Largest single-aisle twinjet undergoing enhancement with technologies from long-range XLR.
While Airbus is migrating the A321XLR wing to the baseline A321neo, as part of an enhancement plan, the airframer is ruling out a further stretch to its largest single-aisle variant.
Speaking during a briefing in Toulouse on 13 October, head of the A320 programme Christoph Zammert said the A321neo “in theory…still has some potential to be stretched”.
But he says the manufacturer believes the business case for a larger model – a possible ‘A322’ – does not hold up.
“We looked into it, but we don’t see a market or financial viability for [it],” he states.
Zammert adds that a further consideration is that the grandfather rights associated with the aircraft “will come to the limit”.
The shift of the XLR wing, he says, “comes with advantages from an operational point of view, but also from an industrial one”.
Wings on the XLR have a single-slotted flap, rather than the current double-slotted design used on the other A321neo models.
“This is what we are harmonising,” says Zammert.
He confirms that the A321neo and A320neo will also see “one of the main benefits” of the XLR – the electronic ‘E-rudder’ – meaning “they will also become true fly-by-wire aircraft”.
Zammert also highlights effort to keep up with evolving requirements, such as floor-loading improvements for the type.
“You might not be surprised if I tell you that the average passenger weight 40 years after the [A320] launch is no longer the same as it was 40 years ago,” he says.
The single-aisle models have undergone interior refurbishment with the ‘Airspace’ cabin, and Zammert says the airframer is studying the opportunity to introduce a new avionics system.
This is intended to make the aircraft “robust against obsolescence” as electronics technology advances, as well as ensuring that it “remains at the forefront” of what pilots can expect, in terms of operational capacity, from a man-machine interface, he states.
“Obviously, what’s important, if you talk about new avionics, is to keep commonality with the existing fleet,” adds Zammert.
“So the managing interface will stay the same. It’s just the capabilities behind that will improve. Because we still want to offer our customers commonality, whether they operate [an A320 or A320neo].”
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