Seven airlines currently have the Airbus A321XLR: Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Iberia, IndiGo, Qantas, Qanot Sharq, and Wizz Air. IndiGo will use the variant to Greece later this month. Other airlines will fly the XLR this year, including Saudia—whose frames will have just 144 seats—and Air Canada.

The XLR will be important equipment in Air Canada’s fleet. It has ordered 30 of them, which were originally due to arrive in 2024. The first frame is now set to arrive in early 2026. All aircraft will have 182 seats, which is a pretty standard amount for the variant. They will have 14 fully flat business seats (1-1) and 168 seats in economy (3-3).

These Nine Routes Are Already Known

Credit: GCMap

Everyone knows that long-haul narrowbodies have considerably lower trip costs than widebodies. That’s their fundamental selling point. It is somewhat counterbalanced by having a higher seat-mile cost and, therefore, requiring higher seat-mile revenue.

But as they require far fewer passengers to break even at a particular percentage point, single-aisle aircraft are usually a far less risky proposition. However, they may encounter payload restrictions, particularly during the peak summer in hot countries.

They may have multiple roles. They may enable new, long thin routes, which is the most commonly considered development. A route that is currently served seasonally may become year round, increasing competitiveness and market share, without excess additional capacity. They may enable a route to switch from a twin-aisle, whether fully or at quieter times of the year, to improve loads, fares, yields, and overall performance. Many of these things, and more, apply to Air Canada’s already known XLR network.

Air Canada From Montreal To The Scottish Capital

Credit: Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh has seen substantial development to/from North America recently. According to OAG data, more than a million two-way seats were available for the first time in 2025. One part of it involved the Canadian flag carrier’s launch of Montreal flights in late June last year. It was the first time the market, which covers 2,634 nautical miles (4,878 km) each way, had been served.

It is the kind of market for which narrowbody equipment is designed. In the first season, the 169-seat 737 MAX 8 was deployed, running three weekly. This year, flights start on June 3, a few weeks earlier. The 182-seat XLR will initially be used, before the MAX 8 reappears on July 7 and operates until the final Europe-bound departure of the season, on September 6. The route will mainly be served four times a week.

This year’s slightly longer season, frequency increase, and higher-gauge equipment (albeit for a limited time) mean that seats for sale have jumped by 72% year-over-year. According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the airline filled 78% of seats in the first year, which is a decent starting point. Evidently, it is sufficiently happy with the performance, helped by incentives or other risk-sharing agreements.

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Narrowbodies Will Have 16% Of Air Canada’s Montreal-Europe Flights

Credit: Air Canada

Let’s fast-forward to August. In that peak summer month, Air Canada plans four transatlantic XLR-operated routes: Montreal to Berlin, Nantes, Porto, and Toulouse. The MAX 8 will have two routes: Edinburgh and Keflavik.

When all equipment is considered, Air Canada plans 702 departures from Montreal to Europe. Its offering will be up by a very healthy 12% compared to last August. In contrast, seats for sale have only risen by 4%. This reflects the growing use of narrowbodies, with August departures jumping from 35 to 114. This has contributed to Air Canada’s seats per flight dropping from 325 last August to 304.