Airbus’s higher-weight A321XLR has been approved by European regulators, three months after the basic model secured certification.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has formally amended the aircraft’s type certificate to include the 101t maximum take-off weight version, listing it as variant 100.
Airbus had originally designed the XLR with this 101t MTOW as a target, enabling it to operate on longer-range routes.
EASA’s certification of the XLR in mid-July initially centred on the 97t version.
Inclusion of the 101t variant on 11 October follows previous approvals of additional variants of the A321neo family’s Leap-1A engines.
EASA listed the Leap-1A32X, 33X, 33B2X and 35AX in August.
The XLR features a large rear centre fuel tank, integral to the fuselage, which enables it to carry the fuel necessary to extend its range beyond that of the A321LR.
Airbus had been intending to deliver the first XLR, to Spanish carrier Iberia, around the end of September or beginning of October, but the handover has slipped by a few weeks.
