A New Airline Welcomes Its First A321XLR

Saudioa has welcomed its first Airbus A321XLR, which brings a new phase of growth at the airline, thanks to this long-range narrowbody jet.

The A321XLR, which will now begin being delivered on a more consistent basis, is expected to help the airline serve long and thin routes across Europe, the Indian Ocean and Africa in the future.

The Order Of The A321XLR

Saudia originally placed its order for the A321XLR years back, with 15 units being selected, the CEO saying the batch was expected to be in place by the end of 2026 and by late-2025 had outlined routes that would feature the jet.

The airline ordering the jet in 2019 confirmed that the new premium lie-flat business class seats would also be featured, with interiors unveiled in May 2023 at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

These next-generation single-aisles to be delivered are placed above any other model in the A320neo family and certainly exceed the capabilities of the competing 737 MAX, with their range complementing strong capacity.

For Saudia as well, the XLR forms just one part of an ongoing commitment to next-generation jets, the broader Saudia Group having ordered over 100 additional A320neo family jets with a backlog now closer to 150 aircraft to align with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 growth targets, which necessitate new orders and a strong aviation industry.

Inside The Saudia Airbus A321XLR

Moving inside the A321XLR, Saudia hasn’t opted to leverage the space to cram as many seats as possible on their jets, as Wizz Air does, which is flying the aircraft for travellers on a budget. Instead, Saudia is looking for a heavily premium layout.

These Airbus A321XLRs are kitted out with 144 seats in two classes; this is therefore positioned as one of the most premium-dense XLR layouts that has been announced and is now present across the global fleet.

Inside the jet, there are 24 business class seats, laid out in a 1-1 configuration, with the Thompson VantageSOLO fully flat bed offering not just a state-of-the-art experience but direct aisle access to every passenger at the front of the cabin.

Behind this are 120 economy-class seats, a smaller number, with the airline still prioritising premium over economy, based on the revenue it’ll be able to generate. Thus, Saudia truly lkeveraging the capoabilities of the aircraft as one that can serve premiuym demand but where a widebody jet simply cannot be justifiied.

Saudia Builds The A321XLR Network

With the first delivery now complete, Saudia will fly the aircraft on a mix of European and leisure/regional long-haul routes from the midway point of this year.

Many of the changes the airline is implementing involve the A321XLR taking the role of the Boeing 787, freeing up the widebody, higher-seat-capacity jet for deployment to other markets that need seats or where new cities could have nonstop service.

Some of the routes include the airline using its Jeddah hub to serve, Vienna, Male, Madrid, Geneva, Mauritius, and Barcelona, all to progressively launch across 2026, but are subject to the delivery of the A321XLR given all of Airbus’ ongoing supply chain struggles and delays.

Saudia will also leverage its Riyadh hub to operate the A321XLR to Moscow Sheremetyevo, Athens and Geneva. Many of the changes will replace the 787-9 and, at times, the A320 as well. These shifts free up existing models for better deployment.