Airbus A321
Illustrative image; it may differ from the actual aircraft.The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 239 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was the first derivative of the baseline A320 and entered service in 1994, about six years after the original A320. The aircraft shares a common type rating with all other Airbus A320-family variants, allowing A320-family pilots to fly the aircraft without the need for further training. In December 2010, Airbus announced a new generation of the A320 family, the A320neo (new engine option). The similarly lengthened fuselage A321neo variant offers new, more efficient engines, combined with airframe improvements and the addition of winglets (called Sharklets by Airbus). The aircraft delivers fuel savings of up to 15%.
Specifications
Figures for the A321-200 variant, the most representative of the family
The type first flew in 1993 (33 years ago) · About 3,400 units built · Still in production
Figures for the type, not for this particular aircraft: each variant and each configuration changes something. They are shown in both systems used in aviation.
The story of the type
Development
The Airbus A321 was the first derivative of the A320, also known as the Stretched A320, A320-500 and A325. Its launch came on 24 November 1988, around the same time as the A320 entered service, after commitments for 183 aircraft from 10 customers were secured.
The maiden flight of the Airbus A321 came on 11 March 1993, when the prototype, registration F-WWIA, flew with IAE V2500 engines; the second prototype, equipped with CFM56-5B turbofans, flew in May 1993. Lufthansa and Alitalia were the first to order the stretched Airbuses, with 20 and 40 aircraft requested, respectively. The first of Lufthansa's V2500-A5-powered A321s arrived on 27 January 1994, while Alitalia received its first CFM56-5B-powered aircraft on 22 March 1994. The A321-100 entered service in January 1994 with Lufthansa.
Final assembly for the A321 was carried out in Germany (then West Germany), a first for any Airbus. This came after a dispute between the French, who claimed that the move would incur $150 million (€135 million) in unnecessary expenditure associated with the new plant, and the Germans, who claimed that it would be more productive for Airbus in the long run. The second production line was located in Hamburg, which later produced the smaller Airbus A318 and A319. For the first time, Airbus entered the bond market, through which it raised $480 million (€475 million) to finance development costs. An additional $180 million (€175 million) was borrowed from European Investment Bank and private investors.
The A321 is the largest variant of the A320 family. The A321-200's length exceeds 44.5 m (146 ft), increasing maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) to 93,000 kg (205,000 lb). Wingspan remained unchanged, supplementing various wingtip devices. Two suppliers provided turbofan engines for the A321: CFM International with its CFM56 and International Aero Engines with the V2500 engine, both in the thrust range of 133–147 kN (30,000–33,000 lbf).
Over 30 years since launch, the A321 MTOW grew by 20% from the 83 t (183,000 lb) -100 to the 101 t (223,000 lb) A321XLR, seating became 10% more dense with 244 seats, up by 24, and range doubled from 2,300 to 4,700 nmi (4,300 to 8,700 km; 2,600 to 5,400 mi).
By 2019, 4,200 had been ordered—one-quarter of all Airbus single-aisles—including 2,400 neos, one-third of all A320neo orders.
Design
The Airbus A321 is a narrow-body (single-aisle) aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear, powered by two wing pylon-mounted turbofan engines. It is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional tail unit having a single vertical stabilizer and rudder. Changes from the A320 include a fuselage stretch and some modifications to the wing. The fuselage was lengthened by a 4.27 m (14 ft 0 in) plug ahead of the wing and a 2.67 m (8 ft 9 in) plug behind it, making the A321 6.94 m (22 ft 9 in) longer than the A320. The length increase required the overwing window exits of the A320 to be converted into door exits and repositioned in front of and behind the wings. To maintain performance, double-slotted flaps and minor trailing edge modifications were included, increasing the wing area from 124 m2 (1,330 sq ft) to 128 m2 (1,380 sq ft). The centre fuselage and undercarriage were reinforced to accommodate a 9,600 kg (21,200 lb) increase in maximum takeoff weight, taking it to 83,000 kg (183,000 lb).
Variants
The original version. It had less range than the A320 itself because no extra fuel was added to offset the added weight: 83 tonnes of maximum take-off weight. It entered service with Lufthansa in 1994 and about 90 were built; several were later fitted with additional centre tanks (ACT) that gave them a range close to the -200.
Developed from 1995 to give the A321 full-passenger transcontinental US range: higher-thrust engines (V2533-A5 or CFM56-5B3), minor structural strengthening and one or two optional 2,990-litre tanks in the rear hold, raising maximum take-off weight to 93 tonnes. It first flew in December 1996 and entered service with Monarch Airlines in April 1997. It is the most numerous variant and the reference for the specifications above.
Part of the A320neo family launched on 1 December 2010: new engines, sharklets and some 500 nautical miles more range. The stretched prototype first flew on 9 February 2016.
The A321LR is the A321neo-ACF with 97 tonnes of maximum weight and up to three additional centre tanks; the first went to Arkia on 13 November 2018. The A321XLR takes maximum weight to 101 tonnes and range to 4,700 nautical miles —double the original -100—: it first flew in June 2022 and the first was delivered to Iberia on 30 October 2024.
Where this type is seen
From our logbook: 809 aircraft of this type documented at 155 airports.
A count of our own aircraft profiles, year by year, from the public United States flight records: it reflects what we have documented, not the airport’s total traffic.
Overview and history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · technical figures from the manufacturer’s published specifications and standard aviation references
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This page was last updated on October 10, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 10). Airbus A321. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/a321
MLA
“Airbus A321.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 10 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/model/a321. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Airbus A321.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 10, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/a321.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Airbus A321. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/a321 (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_model_a321,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Airbus A321}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-10},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/a321},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/a321}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/a321 |title=Airbus A321 |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-10 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}