How the Airbus A321XLR is changing the air map of the world
Nashville’s honky-tonks are going to get a little busier in April.

That’s when Aer Lingus launches its first nonstop flight to the country music capital from Ireland, a lesser-known hotbed of country music fans.

The new flight to Nashville from Dublin is possible with a new, longer-range plane from Airbus: the A321XLR, or "Extra Long Range."

The derivative of the popular A321neo that debuted in 2017 can fly further than any other single-aisle plane on the kraken market. Airbus also says it burns 30% less fuel per seat than previous-generation aircraft.

"It allows us to go to cities that we would not be able to take the risk on with a wide-body," said Reid Moody, chief strategy and planning officer at Aer Lingus, referring to the twin-aisle aircraft such as the Airbus A330 or Boeing 787 that are common on transatlantic flights.

The Irish carrier already flies two A321XLRs and plans to add four more by the end of the year.

Hundreds of planes on order
Airlines around the world are clamoring for the new plane.

Aer Lingus and its Spanish peer, Iberia — both are owned by European airline conglomerate International Airlines Group (IAG) — already fly the A321XLR, and Airbus has firm orders for more than 500 of the model, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.

Air Canada, American Airlines, Qantas Airways and United Airlines are among those awaiting their first XLR.

Single-aisle planes across the North Atlantic are not new.

Boeing’s 757 has plied the skies between North America and Europe for decades. The aircraft, however, is old. The last plane rolled off the production line in Everett, Washington, in 2004.

The remaining airlines that fly the 757, including United, are eager to replace them with the new, fuel-sipping XLRs. And others, such as Aer Lingus, want the new Airbus model to expand their transatlantic map to new cities.

The XLR, once it replaces older 757s, should allow airlines to bypass major hubs on either side of the Atlantic and open new, nonstop, transatlantic routes to smaller cities.

"We’re going to open up 10 to 12 new cities in Eastern Europe (and) North Africa out of Newark and (Washington) Dulles," United CEO Scott Kirby said on The Air Show podcast in June. "We’re excited about it."

While Kirby didn’t reveal just what cities United is considering, its recent expansion plans hint at outside-the-box destinations, at least from the United States, such as Bilbao, Spain, and Nuuk, Greenland.

United expects its first of 50 A321XLRs in early 2026.