Iberia COO: Airbus A321XLR Has Surpassed Expectations

MADRID—Iberia COO Ramiro Sequeira has outlined his experience with the Airbus A321XLR so far as the long-range narrowbody nears a year in operation with the Spanish flag carrier.

“We are very happy with the XLR and it matched with our expectations, and even a little bit more,” Sequeira told Aviation Week in Madrid on Sept. 30. 

“For us, the aircraft is a game changer, not only because of the performance itself, but also the opportunity to start opening new markets,” he said.

These include new routes, for example, that may not have enough capacity to operate a widebody aircraft, or to add capacity on existing routes or to increase frequencies.

One example is the route Madrid-Boston, which started as seasonal service and has now become a year-round destination with the A321XLR. The Oneworld Alliance member was the first airline to operate transoceanic routes with the type.

The next new A321XLR routes will be from Madrid to Recife and Fortaleza, both in Brazil, starting this winter. “The commercial team is already looking for new routes for the coming years,” Sequeira added.

“We had almost no AOGs (aircraft-on-ground) with the A321XLR, and fuel consumption is a bit better than we expected in our business case,” he said. Iberia operates the A321XLR in a 182-seat, two-class configuration.

However, its A321XLR registered EC-OOJ was damaged by a bird strike in early August and has been grounded since then. “We received the final repair instruction for the aircraft from Airbus on Sept. 30. The repair is very complex,” said Natalia Martínez del Río, Iberia's airframe services director.

With four A321XLRs already in service, Iberia expects three more to be delivered by the end of the year. The eighth aircraft from its first XLR order is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2026. In terms of potential delays, Sequeira said deliveries were on track.

When asked if Iberia could have interest in even more A321XLRs, Sequeira said that right now the business plan is only for the eight aircraft. “I would say with this performance and how excited my colleagues are from the commercial side, I believe that we would like to have more,” he added.

Besides the remaining four A321XLRs, Iberia also expects to receive four A320neos and three A350-900s by the end of 2026.

Regarding the remaining fleet, Sequeira said that in terms of daily aircraft utilization, Iberia is a leader with the A350s and is among the top five operators of its A330 fleet. “The A330/A350 fleet on average is up to 15.5 hours utilized per day,” he said. Iberia operates 20 A330-200/300s and 23 A350s.

On the A320-family side, utilization has increased over the past decade. In 2014 its narrowbody utilization was 9.4 hr. per day—the level now has reached 10.2-10.3 hr. per day.