CFM powers first A321XLR commercial flight

CFM International congratulates Iberia on the entry into service of the first Airbus A321XLR, powered by CFM LEAP-1A engines. Iberia recently launched revenue service with a flight from Madrid to Paris, and the airline is now bringing the aircraft into long-haul service with flights between Madrid and Boston. The LEAP-powered A321XLR offers higher fuel efficiency, lower noise and emissions, and extra-long-range capability. With the industry’s highest utilization rates and a departure reliability rate of 99.95%, LEAP engines offer 15 to 20 percent better fuel consumption and lower carbon emissions versus CFM56 engines.

Marco Sansavini, chairman and chief executive officer of Iberia commented: “We are thrilled to be the first airline to take delivery of the Airbus A321XLR. The A321XLR, with its CFM LEAP engines, will allow us to offer new long-haul routes and enhance our overall operational efficiency.” 

Gaël Méheust, president and CEO of CFM International said: “The LEAP-powered A321XLR gives operators like Iberia much greater route scheduling flexibility. We didn’t need to make any modification to the engine because we designed it with 35,000-pound thrust capability from the beginning to support longer range, higher max takeoff-weight aircraft. The added benefit for operators is 100 percent commonality with existing LEAP-powered A320neo family fleets.” 

To date, LEAP engines have been the preferred choice of more than 70 customers to power Airbus’ large, long-range single-aisle aircraft (A321neo, A321LR and A321XLR). 

With more than 3,500 LEAP-powered aircraft in service, the engine has allowed CFM customers to avoid 40+ million tons of CO2 emissions.* The engine has been the most successful new product introduction in CFM’s 50-year history, with the fastest ramp-up of engine flight hours ever in the industry – surpassing 60 million hours in eight years.