Southeast Asia A321neo fleet: upgauging trend accelerates; limited long haul opportunities

VietJet took delivery of its first A321neo at the end of 2017, becoming the tenth airline to operate the new type. This marked the first A321neo delivery to Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asian airlines have orders for more than 300 A321neos. Southeast Asian airlines will use the new aircraft type almost entirely to upgauge regional routes, and particularly to slot-constrained airports.

The deployment patterns are very different for European and North American airlines, which are planning to use A321neos to operate long haul services. In Southeast Asia, long haul narrowbody is a much more challenging proposition.