CFM Powers First A321XLR Commercial Flight

LEAP-powered Airbus A321XLR first to enter commercial service

CFM International congratulates Iberia on the entry into service of the first Airbus A321XLR, powered by CFM LEAP-1A engines. Iberia recently launched revenue service with a flight from Madrid to Paris, and the airline is now bringing the aircraft into long-haul service with flights between Madrid and Boston.

"We are thrilled to be the first airline to take delivery of the Airbus A321XLR," said Marco Sansavini, chairman and chief executive officer of Iberia. "The A321XLR, with its CFM LEAP engines, will allow us to offer new long-haul routes and enhance our overall operational efficiency."

The LEAP-powered A321XLR offers higher fuel efficiency, lower noise and emissions, and extra-long-range capability. With the industry's highest utilization rates and a departure reliability rate of 99.95%, LEAP engines offer 15 to 20 percent better fuel consumption and lower carbon emissions versus CFM56 engines.

"The LEAP-powered A321XLR gives operators like Iberia much greater route scheduling flexibility," said Gaël Méheust, president and CEO of CFM International. "We didn't need to make any modification to the engine because we designed it with 35,000-pound thrust capability from the beginning to support longer range, higher max takeoff-weight aircraft. The added benefit for operators is 100 percent commonality with existing LEAP-powered A320neo family fleets."

To date, LEAP engines have been the preferred choice of more than 70 customers to power Airbus' large, long-range single-aisle aircraft (A321neo, A321LR and A321XLR).

With more than 3,500 LEAP-powered aircraft in service, the engine has allowed CFM customers to avoid 40+ million tons of CO2 emissions.* The engine has been the most successful new product introduction in CFM's 50-year history, with the fastest ramp-up of engine flight hours ever in the industry - surpassing 60 million hours in eight years.

* Compared to the same flights powered by CFM56 engines