The range of Airbus’ A321XLR

leehamnews.com/2023/08/31/the-range-of-the-airbus-a321xlr

August 31, 2023

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By Bjorn Fehrm

August 31, 2023, © Leeham News: The advertised range of 4,700nm for Airbus’ A321XLR
enables true trans-Atlantic single-aisle routes that can originate inland both in the US and in
Europe. It was, therefore, worrying when EASA and FAA demanded that Airbus add extra
fire protection in the area where the new center tank is placed, the tank that enables the
longer range.

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Extra fire protection increases the empty weight, which has an impact on range. How much
is lost, and what can Airbus do about it? We model the range shortfall and possible fixes with
our Aircraft Performance and Cost model.

Figure 1. The Airbus A321XLR. Source: Airbus.

Summary:
The A321XLR is the first trans-Atlantic single-aisle airliner that can fly further than
coast to coast between the US and Europe.
The range shortfall from the rumored weight increases is less than written about but
still troublesome.

The A321XLR

Airbus’ hot-selling A321 had one problem, it wasn’t designed for flights longer than four
hours. To fly routes over four hours, like trans-Atlantic routes, the aircraft needs more fuel
and more weight margin to fill the extra fuel in the tanks.

It was easier for Airbus to increase the Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) from 89 tonnes to
first 93.5 tonnes and later 97 tonnes to cater for more fuel weight than to find a place for
more fuel.

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Airbus initially resorted to adding movable Additional Center Tanks, ACTs, that are stored in
the cargo bays, originally developed for the Business jet versions of the A319 (Figure 2).

The addition of an ACT extends the range of

the standard A321NEO from about 2,900nm to
3,300nm when we use standard airline
reserves and passenger + bag weights. The
problem with the ACTs is that they take cargo
space and add additional empty weight.

For a standard A321, the loss of cargo space

of one LD3-45 (which is the size of the ACTs)
is not troublesome. But when Airbus designed Figure 2. A model of an Airbus ACT in the cargo
bay of an A319 fuselage section. Source:
the A321LR, three ACTs were needed to reach
Airbus.
a nominal range of 4,000nm, Figure 3.

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 Figure 3. The placement of the three ACTs in the A321LR. Source: Airbus.

Now the cargo capacity was reduced from 10 LD3-45s to six, from alternative one to three in
Figure 4. For a fully loaded A321LR, the six LD3-45s where passenger bags are loaded
means two LD3-45 worth of bags must be loaded in the bulk area, making the turnaround at
airports slower.

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 Figure 4. The disposition of the cargo LD3-45 containers (blue) and Center Tanks (Magenta) for A321,
A321LR, and A321XLR. Source: Airbus and Leeham Co.

Most airlines opted for only two additional ACTs (alternative two in Figure 4) to keep seven
LD3-45 positions and save the weight of the tanks.

The nominal 4,000nm range of an A321LR is with Airbus reserves and passenger + bag
weights. Change it to airline standards, reduce it to two ACTs, and cater for winter winds of
the Atlantic, and we have a range from the west of Europe to the East coast of the US.

The A321XLR

The A321LR gave a too-limited route network for many operators. Thus they never started
long-haul single-aisle flights with it. With the primary problem being the loss of cargo space
and increased empty weight, Airbus studied how to increase the fuel by around 12,500l (the
fuel in three ACTs) and, at the same time, reduce the installed weight of the extra fuel tanks.

The result was a change to an integral rear extra tank that replaced the three ACTs. It filled
the space of the two aft ACTs and continued forward all the way to the Main Landing Gear
Wheel bay. The new tank, which contains 13,100l, is called the Rear Center Tank, RCT,

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Figures 5 and 6.

It’s an integral part of the rear fuselage, which is part of the German deliveries to the Final
Assembly Line in Hamburg, the only FAL that will produce the A321XLR.

Figure 5. The change part of the rear fuselage to a section with integral RCT. Source: Airbus.

For a standard fuselage section in the RCT area, there would be insulation blankets between
the frames visible in Figure 2 (this is a picture from an ACT fit in an A319 fuselage section
without insulation blankets between the frames, and it lacks cargo floor and side walls). The
RTC fuselage section, Figure 6, lacks insulation between the tank and the fuselage skin.

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 Figure 6. The lower fuselage section with the integral Rear Center Tank. Source: Airbus.

The insulation next to the fuselage skin is mandated by the FAA and EASA to slow down the
penetration of an external fire. It is to protect cargo, and passengers should the aircraft
endure a hard landing where fuel from the wing tanks leak out and catch fire.

FAA and EASA took issue with the absence of fire penetration protecting blankets for the
RCT section. After several rounds of discussions and requested industry comments on the
special conditions regulation that must be introduced for the RCT for the A321XLR, Airbus
agreed to add structure and insulation to achieve an equivalent level of safety to a section
with standard insulation.

Loss of range
The introduction of reinforcements and additional insulation is rumored to have increased the
empty weight of the A321XLR by around 750kg. Before we use our Aircraft Performance and
Cost Model, APCM, to look at the range loss, let’s model the range of the A321XLR when
using typical Airline rules for reserves and passenger + bag weight (Airbus assumes a 3%
route margin for fuel and 90kg Pax+Bags, Airlines use 5% and 97 to 100kg).

The A321XLR would have a range operating with typical Airline rules of 4,500nm, down from
Airbus’ 4,700nm. If we increase the empty weight by 750kg, it would cut the no wind range
with a 200nm alternate to 4350nm.

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Airbus CEO, Guillaume Faury, said on the Airbus 1H2023 call that the XLR project is now
studying what can be done to regain the lost range. We will look at what possibilities Airbus
has to bring the Airline reserves+pax. weights range up to 4,500nm next week.

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