In April 2024, Greece’s Aegean Airlines announced plans to acquire four A321LRs, which will usher in a new era for the airline. There’s now an update, as the airline has additionally announced plans to acquire two A321XLRs, and deliveries are imminent!
In this post:
Aegean will add six long range A321neos to fleet
Star Alliance member Aegean exclusively flies Airbus A320-family aircraft, and the airline is currently modernizing its fleet with new A320neos and A321neos, all of which are in a regional configuration.
That will be changing, but only for a subfleet of aircraft:
- Aegean will acquire two Airbus A321XLRs, which will be delivered in December 2025 and January 2026
- Aegean will acquire four Airbus A321LRs, which will be delivered in 2027 and 2028
What’s the significance of this? For one, the jets will offer significant additional range, as these are the long range versions of the popular A321 aircraft. The A321LR is capable of operating a flight of up to around 8.5 hours, while the A321XLR is capable of operating a flight of up to around 10.5 hours (it’s the longest range narrow body jet).
It won’t just be the range of these planes that’s special, but also the configuration. While Aegean’s standard A321neos are configured with 220 seats, all six of these planes will feature fewer than 180 seats. We’re being told to expect fully flat seats in business class with direct aisle access, and seat back entertainment and Wi-Fi throughout the aircraft.
The two upcoming A321XLRs will feature just 138 seats. That’s a very low number, and the short notice for the delivery of these jets sure has me wondering. How is Aegean acquiring these? Well, I have a guess…
Keep in mind that JetBlue was supposed to acquire A321XLRs, but ended up deferring delivery of the planes. JetBlue’s A321XLRs, much like the carrier’s existing A321LRs, were supposed to feature exactly 138 seats, with 24 of those being business class seats. So I think it’s safe to say that Aegean will be flying A321XLRs that were intended for JetBlue — very nice!
Hey, the colors even largely match, since both airlines use a lot of blue!
Where will Aegean fly these special aircraft?
Aegean states that these new aircraft will primarily be used to operate flights outside of the European Union, with a flight time of over four hours. That includes operating these planes in some existing markets, to provide an “upgraded level of comfort and a differentiated travel experience.”
Aegean has already revealed its initial plans for these A321XLRs. The airline plans the following flights:
- As of March 2026, Aegean plans 5x weekly flights from Athens (ATH) to New Delhi (DEL)
- As of May 2026, Aegean plans 3x weekly flights between Athens (ATH) and Mumbai (BOM)
The exact flight schedule will be announced at the end of September 2025, when flight tickets go on sale. Ironically, at 3,100-3,200 miles, these routes would be well within range for the A321LR, and don’t require the incremental range of the A321XLR. But I suspect this just comes down to aircraft availability.
When A321LRs are delivered in 2027 and 2028, additional new routes will be considered, to destinations like Almaty (ALA), Bangalore (BLR), Lagos (LOS), Mahe (SEZ), Male (MLE), and Nairobi (NBO).
Aegean provides the below map of potential destinations that can be served by these planes.
What a cool development for Aegean!
I’m a huge fan of Aegean Airlines. While there’s not much to get excited about with short haul configured aircraft within Europe, the airline has a phenomenal soft product. The airline still serves free food and drinks in economy, and the business class service is way better than what you’ll find on most European airlines.
The airline is also run in a very disciplined manner. Selfishly, I’ve long said that I wish Aegean would start long haul service, including to the United States, as I’d love to fly with the airline more. The thing is, that can’t be done in a consistently profitable basis year-round. So the airline is smart for avoiding those kinds of flights, even if there would be prestige to it.
Unfortunately Greece is so far from the United States that even the A321XLR couldn’t make that journey, so Aegean would need wide body aircraft. I figure what Aegean is doing here is the next best thing — the airline is able to maintain fleet consistency in terms of using the Airbus A320-family of aircraft, while enhancing the experiencing on some routes, and launching new markets. Very cool!
Bottom line
Aegean has made an exciting announcement, as the airline will take delivery of six long range aircraft. This includes two A321XLRs (coming in late 2025 and early 2026) and four A321LRs (coming in 2027 and 2028).
This will allow Aegean to add service in markets that previously weren’t possible. Even beyond that, it’s exciting to think that such an upgraded passenger experience will be offered, which passengers will no doubt appreciate. I suspect the two upcoming A321XLRs will be planes that were initially intended to JetBlue, given the layout with just 138 seats. I can’t wait to learn more, and to take one of these flights!
What do you make of Aegean’s evolution?
Having recently flown Etihad A321 fr9m Athens to Abu Dhabi…4.5 hr sector no meal service just a chicken sandwich…..and big queues down back whole flight for toilets…..no seat back IFE….not a major problem…..but there onboard wifi entertainment was very minimal.
Next day flew Emirates 777 to Bangkok…..way better experience!
So for me I will be avoiding long 321 flights…..whilst I’m sure it will be nice in biz on Aegean……economy will not be pleasant.
If an airline could make the range work I’m sure a summer Mykonos - NYC route would do great and they could charge quite a pretty penny
Would it though? 10 hours on a narrow body + limited rebooking options if things go wrong + more than likely non daily service doesn't sound very appealing to me
Not that they should since it's hard to imagine they'd ever make money on it, but in theory could an XLR make it from Athens to New York City without any weight restrictions?
Maybe an Iceland flight would be nice too. I can't remember if they currently fly there, since I haven't flown them in ages.
Looking at the places that are flown over in your map, I suspect they will not be taking the most direct routing on these services, so the extra range will probably still come in handy.
Why on earth would they fly to the USA when they have so many underserved destinations with huge potential within 4-5-6 hours from their hubs? Long may they stay well away from transatlantic service, the overcapacity in that market, and the risks involved in competing with the cartel there. I look forward to flying Aegean to sub-saharan Africa by the end of the decade.
I flew Aegean first/business from ATH to TLV and it was a fantastic flight.
It looks like the XLR on the map is at 5000 mi, which would put EWR/JFK (and BOS) in range at 4,956 (for EWR, less for the others) from ATH.
With passengers and baggage though??
The range is not too short for a US flight to Athens with a refueling stop in Dublin or Shannon.
Kind of pointless and inconvenient to feature a stopover, when everyone else in the market can and does fly nonstop. SNN would be more efficient for pre-clearance but I doubt we'll see Aegean fly to the US like this.
If A3 flies to EWR or other coast city, I'd fly them immediately.... until the bloggers ruined it.
UK would be well served, heck B6 could code share and have mint service to ATH via EDI or LGW!