It’s an interesting time for Greece’s Aegean Airlines, as the airline has plans to start flying (sort of) long haul. However, unfortunately we’re going to have to wait longer than expected for that to happen at the Star Alliance carrier, though I’m not sure the airline is sharing the full story.
Aegean no longer plans to fly Airbus A321XLRs
In 2024, Aegean announced plans to acquire four Airbus A321LRs, which is the long range version of the popular A321 aircraft. This is the second longest range A321-family aircraft, as there’s also the A321XLR, with the XLR standing for “extra long range.”
Then in 2025, the airline also reached an agreement to acquire two A321XLRs, on fairly short notice. The idea was that JetBlue had deferred its A321XLRs that were on order, and Aegean was going to take them over, more or less with JetBlue’s interiors. The planes would’ve had just 138 seats, including suites with direct aisle access.
The plan was for Aegean to take delivery of these planes in late 2025 and early 2026, and then start flying them in the spring of 2026. However, that’s no longer happening. As a matter of fact, the airline has completely canceled this order for two planes, as there were reportedly issues with getting the seats on the planes certified.
So the airline decided that if it couldn’t take delivery of them before summer and get them flying, it didn’t want them at all. Aegean now now reportedly just stick to the four A321LRs initially ordered, which will be delivered starting in 2027.
Aegean plans to make its long haul debut to India, flying to Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM). This will be in partnership with India’s IndiGo Airlines, which is flying A321XLRs in the same markets.
It remains to be seen if Aegean boosts its A321LR order in light of this development, or keeps the long haul fleet at four planes.
I wonder what the real backstory is here
While aircraft seat certification issues are incredibly common nowadays, it’s still a bit surprising to see this, given that JetBlue operates A321LRs with very similar interiors. Obviously we’re talking about different regulators here, but still.
Anyway, I have to imagine there’s a little more to this story. “Oh, we can’t get planes in time for one season, so let’s just cancel the order altogether.” After all, while summer is peak season in Greece, there’s still demand in winter to and from India, and Aegean has a robust connecting network throughout Europe and beyond.
I think it’s more likely that the certification issues gave the airline an “out” for this order, and they decided to use it. Why, though?
- Maybe Aegean decided a subfleet of just two planes isn’t scaled enough to be efficient
- Maybe in light of all the global uncertainty at the moment, the airline just (smartly) wants to postpone long haul flights, especially since current airspace restrictions could complicate these planned routes
- Maybe the airline had a change of heart with these very high premium and low capacity A321XLRs, and the potential economics
It’s anyone’s guess, but either way, I’m looking forward to seeing what the airline has planned for its A321LRs, which are expected to feature 178(ish) seats.
Bottom line
Aegean Airlines has long haul expansion plans, as the goal was to acquire six Airbus A321-family long range aircraft. This was supposed to include two A321XLRs (which were already supposed to be delivered), plus four A321LRs (to be delivered in 2027 and 2028).
Unfortunately Aegean no longer plans to take the two A321XLRs, due to seat certification issues. Aegean was supposed to fly A321XLRs intended for JetBlue, but due to the delivery delay, the airline no longer wants them. The claim is that the airline doesn’t want the planes because they’ll only be delivered after the peak summer season, but I have to imagine there’s more to the story than that.
What do you make of Aegean scrapping its A321XLR order?
