Airbus quietly announces A321XLR

[DaveReidUK]

I'll be amazed if Boeing reinvent the 767.

[CaptainProp]

Originally Posted by crewmeal

So how much further will the XLR then?

The XLR has (unconfirmed) range of 4700NM and increase MTOM to just over 100 tones.

CP

[Less Hair]

So another 787-3 2.0?

[SeenItAll]

Originally Posted by Smythe

Has to be a twin aisle 2-3-2 design, anything bigger like 2-4-2 would compete with they already have.
Singles aisle are already stretched too far, and especially with a brand new design, a waste of a single aisle.
The issue with a 2-3-2 is the fuselage would be ovum, (aka 767) too heavy with aluminum, unlikely with composites to be cheap/easy to make.




No wonder its taking so long to decide.

My understanding is that the MMA would not have a circular cross-section, but an oval one with the longer axis being the horizontal one. This gives the extra seating width without the total bulk. The sacrifice is that the cargo area would not be tall enough to accommodate LD2s.

[skwdenyer]

Originally Posted by Smythe

The issue with a 2-3-2 is the fuselage would be ovum, (aka 767) too heavy with aluminum, unlikely with composites to be cheap/easy to make.

Assuming the composite fuselage is filament wound, it doesn't matter whether the fuselage is ovum or circular.

[Smythe]

Someone was postulating today about putting the CS500 wings on the A320....no idea of the validity, or if the 500 even got that far in design.

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by Smythe

Someone was postulating today about putting the CS500 wings on the A320....no idea of the validity, or if the 500 even got that far in design.

The A321 would struggle with the CSeries wing. The A320 might just about be OK, but then there would be no production commonality.