Flying narrowbody aircraft across the Atlantic is nothing new. But the arrival of longer-range versions of the Boeing 737and Airbus A320, able to fly at much lower unit costs than the legacy Boeing 757, is creating fresh opportunities, along with Bombardier’s C Series.
Norwegian’s announcement in July that it plans to build a fleet of 30 Airbus A321LRs took the market by surprise. The Scandinavian low-cost carrier (LCC) so far uses only Boeing aircraft across its short- and long-haul network, and adding a new aircraft type will introduce complexity, something it has rigorously avoided in the past.
Choosing the A321LR is a strong reminder that airlines—at least in Western and Northern Europe—now see more small markets they can target for growth. The development, if substantial and sustained, should be of great concern to legacy carriers operating from large hubs in Europe and the U.S. because it has the potential to undermine the feeder traffic needed at most large long-haul bases.
Narrowbody Aircraft Going Long-Haul?
Norwegian places order for 30 Airbus A321LRs
Lower unit costs, smaller seat capacity open up new markets for long-haul operations
Bombardier pitches C Series for medium- to long-range services
Norwegian had been looking for a “short or medium long-haul aircraft,” says CEO Bjorn Kjos. “What we are looking for is range. You do not need to fight all these narrowbody operators in Europe when you have a range of destinations outside of Europe that you can fly to [with a narrowbody aircraft].”
The A321LR will fill the gap between Norwegian’s short-haul narrowbody operations based on Boeing 737-800s and its long-haul 787 fleet. The reengined, long-range A321 “is a very good aircraft from smaller catchment areas into a lot of cities that are not a typical widebody destination,” Kjos says. “You can reach, for instance, most destinations in India from Stockholm Arlanda Airport. It fits really well with our global expansion plans and future long-haul network, both in terms of size, range and fuel efficiency,” he adds.
The A321LR will be able to fly routes of up to 4,000 nm, according to Airbus. The aircraft can seat approximately 220 passengers in a single-class long-haul configuration. With regard to the aircraft’s economics, the A321LR has a “very, very low seat cost,” says Kjos. “Actually, it has a lower [per-trip] cost than the Boeing 787.”
There is nothing unusual about transatlantic narrowbody flights. Many U.S. carriers use the Boeing 757 on U.S.-Europe routes; ASL Airlines Ireland operates three 757-200s on behalf of Aer Lingus on Ireland-U.S. flights. And British Airways (BA) subsidiary OpenSkies deploys three 757-200s between Paris Orly and New York (New York John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey). OpenSkies is scheduled to add its first 767, a former BA aircraft, to its fleet in August. BA itself uses a pair of AirbusA318s on the London City Airport (LCY) to New York JFK route. The aircraft are equipped with 32 seats and refuel in Shannon, Ireland, on the westbound leg.

Norwegian plans to use 30 Airbus A321LRs for long-haul routes. Credit: Fixion/Airbus Concept


The 757-200/300 is still the main aircraft supporting Icelandair’s network into Europe and the U.S over its hub in Reykjavik’s Keflavik International Airport, although the Icelandic national airline added its first 767-300ER last year. However, the carrier will hew to its core practice of deploying narrowbody aircraft on transatlantic routes and will induct 16 Boeing 737-8 and -9 aircraft from 2018-21.
Its low-cost competitor WOW Air uses a mix of A321s and A330-330s on its North American network from Reykjavik. Flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco, which began in June, are aboard the A330, but Toronto, Montreal, Boston and Baltimore-Washington International Airport are all served with A321-200s in a single-class configuration with 200 standard economy seats.
Norwegian will incorporate 30 A321LRs into its fleet. Eight are scheduled for delivery in 2019 and 11 each in 2020 and 2021. This is not a new order, just an upsizing of part of a buy of 100 A320neos placed by the carrier’s Irish subsidiary Arctic Aviation Assets in 2012. The remainder of the A320neo purchase will be leased out.
The A321LRs will not change Norwegian’s short-term commitment to the Boeing 787 or the 737 MAX. It added two 787-9s in the first half, nine are joining next year, and 11 will be delivered in 2018. “In slightly more than two years, our widebody fleet is growing from 10 to 32 units,” Kjos points out. The airline’s 787-9s are fitted with 344 seats. They work “perfectly,” but they are actually a “big” aircraft, he says.
Norwegian in 2015 mapped out plans to use the 737-800 and the 737-8 on transatlantic routes. It had scheduled to launch a service linking Cork, Ireland, to Boston aboard 737-800s in May, but that was postponed because the U.S. Transportation Department did not award Norwegian Air International, the carrier’s Irish subsidiary, a foreign air carrier permit. It wants to start flights between Cork and New York JFK with its new 737-8 next year. Norwegian is the European launch customer of the reengined variant of the 737-800 and has 100 on firm order. It will get seven MAXs in 2017. The 737-8 has a maximum range of 3,515 nm with passengers plus baggage, based on Boeing specifications for the aircraft. Maximum seating capacity is 189 passengers.
Bombardier’s C Series is another new option for medium- to long-haul flying, although the CS100’s and CS300’s ranges come in below the 737-8 and A320neo. However, the manufacturer hopes its short-field performance will open up new long-haul destinations from high-yield markets such as LCY. Bombardier has developed modifications, including a different setting for slats and flaps and changes to climb thrust integration that result in a 150-nm range increase from LCY for the CS100 and a 450-nm improvement from Denver for the larger CS300, according to C Series program head Rob Dewar.
The baseline range of 3,050 nm for the CS100 and 3,300 nm for the CS300 remain unchanged.
According to the manufacturer, the CS100 now has a range of 2,350 nm out of the London airport. But Dewar says the aircraft can make it to New York-JFK with up to 42 passengers in an all-business-class configuration without a refueling stop, 10 more than the maximum number on the British Airways Airbus A318 service, which requires a westbound fuel stop. According to Dewar, the CS100 could fly from LCY to Dubai International with about 80 passengers and to Moscow with 108.
 
LCY also has high hopes that the aircraft will allow airlines to operate more long-haul flights in spite of its short 1,500-m (5,000-ft.) runway. Chief Executive Declan Collier says the airport considers destinations in the Middle East, the Gulf region and Turkey as possibilities, with North American markets such as Toronto, Montreal and Boston also becoming viable options. The plans, however, hinge on the airport’s ability to get approval for desperately needed expansion. The most important is a desire to build a new taxiway parallel to the runway, which would eliminate the need to backtrack and thus increase aircraft throughput and capacity. Seven additional apron positions are also planned but not yet approved. Collier says LCY can currently handle the planned Swiss International Air Lines C Series services from both Zurich and Geneva and the BA A318 operation.
Bombardier also has more homework to do. According to Dewar, the company has validated steep approach capabilities for up to 8.5 deg. in Canada; 5.5 deg. is necessary for the difficult landing procedure into LCY. However, the tests must be validated in trials at the airport itself; the tests are scheduled for the fall. Once all the required regulatory approvals are obtained, Swiss wants to start operating the aircraft into LCY from the spring of 2017.
AirBaltic, which will launch CS300 operations this year, is looking at using the larger C Series version on flights from Riga, Latvia, to Abu Dhabi to link up with Etihad Airways’ long-haul services to Asia.