By Anthony Bang An
Where to Find Transatlantic Narrowbody Flights
Many narrowbody jets are able to fly longer routes with a lower density configuration or a lower payload, but the aircraft, including Boeing’s 737 or Airbus A320 aren’t exactly designed to fly these longer routes. These are mostly exceptional cases such as British Airways’ now-cancelled service between JFK and London City via Ireland or Virgin Australia’s new service between Cairns and Tokyo with B737-700.
Most of the longer routes are operated by aircraft designed to perform such flights with a full payload, including the older generation, such as the 757, and the newcomers, including the A321LR, A321XLR and 737 MAX.
The transatlantic market has also turned into a battlefield between Airbus and Boeing in selling their long-haul single-aisle aircraft. The A321LR and XLR have longer ranges than Boeing’s 737MAX while the two have similar capacities.
A British Airways A318 at London City Airport (Photo: British Airways)
New Markets
Doors open to secondary cities that would otherwise not have a European service, the like of Halifax, Hartford, Cleveland or Shannon. These aircraft would also allow airports that are not built to accommodate widebodies to receive transatlantic services. SAS’s new A321LR services to Newark are a great example of the impact these airplanes can have.
Flexibility
These aircraft allow airlines to maintain daily flights throughout the year. Routes that would traditionally be served by a single daily widebody are now served by multiple daily A321s, allowing for more choices for travelers and freedom for airlines to adjust schedules, maximizing load factors while maintaining frequency. It also allows cities to be served during off-peak seasons.
The first Airbus A321neoLR will be delivered to SAS in mid-2020. (Photo: SAS)
Aer Lingus
A scaled operation from its hubs in Dublin and Shannon to across the Atlantic, the A321LR is Aer Lingus’ equipment of choice. Newly established Are Lingus U.K. also uses the A321 on its Manchester-New York route seasonally.
The Summer 2023 schedule sees the A321LRs used on the following routes:
Dublin – Washington Dulles
Dublin – Newark
Dublin – Philadelphia
Dublin – Hartford Windsor Locks
Dublin – Cleveland
Shannon – JFK
Shannon – Boston Logan
Air Canada
Currently, there is only one route operated by Air Canada’s 737 MAX between Halifax and London, not particularly a long route, at only 2,867 miles.
Air Transat
The other Canadian airline operating single-aisle across the pond, operating a fleet of A321s from Montreal and Toronto to Europe, is Air Transat. The carrier typically uses the type together with a fleet of A330s and adjusts with changes in demand.
Toronto – Paris CDG
Toronto – Amsterdam
Toronto – Dublin
Toronto – Faro
Toronto – Glasgow
Toronto – Manchester
Toronto – Gatwick
Quebec City – Paris CDG
Quebec City – London Gatwick
Montreal – Brussels
Montreal – Basel
Montreal – Bordeaux
Montreal – Nates
Montreal – Nice
Montreal – Toulouse
Montreal – Amsterdam
Montreal – London Gatwick
Montreal – Porto
Montreal – Lisbon
The first A321LR departs from Paris bound for JFK (Photo: Airbus)
SAS
Some of the longest narrow-body routes are operated by SAS. The A321LR is used on these ‘ultra-long’ routes:
Aalborg – Newark
Gothenburg – Newark
Copenhagen- Newark
Copenhagen – Boston
Copenhagen – Toronto
Stockholm – Toronto
La Compagnie
An all-business airline that operates from French and Italian cities to Newark called La Compagnie also uses A321LRs:
Orly – Newark
Marseilles – Newark
Marseilles – Orly – Newark
Milan – Newark
TAP Portugal
TAP flies A321LRs from Lisbon to North and South American destinations, including:
Lisbon – Wahington Dulles
Lisbon – Toronto
Lisbon – Boston
Lisbon – Montreal
Lisbon – Newark
Porto – Newark
Lisbon – Belem
Lisbon – Natal
United Airlines
One of the only carriers still utilizing Boeing’s 757s on routes from its hubs in Washington Dulles, Chicago, and Newark to Europe is United. A handful of flights are also operated by the 737 MAX. The carrier has placed orders for A321XLRs to replace the 757s on some of these routes.
Newark – Malaga
Newark – Porto
Newark – Tenerife
Newark – Shannon
Newark – Dublin
Newark – Edinburgh
Chicago – Edinburgh
Chicago – Dublin
Chicago – Shannon
Washington Dulles – Porto
Washington Dulles – Edinburgh
A United Boeing 757 departs Eagle County. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
JetBlue
JetBlue uses A321LRs to fly from its hubs in Boston and JFK to London airports and Paris.
JFK – Paris
JFK – London Heathrow
JFK – London Gatwick
Boston – London Heathrow
Boston – London Gatwick
With the airlines mostly full-service or all-business, traditional carriers are more fond of operating narrowbody aircraft on transatlantic routes. This can be attributed to low-cost carriers benefiting from economies of scale and not having business class hurt the financial potential of these operations.
Most airlines feature a premium heavy cabin on these services and for passengers, flying on a narrow-body over the ocean does not mean a compromised experience. Lie-flat business class seats and economy with IFEs are the industry standard, some frequent fliers have even decided that narrowbody flights are the ‘better’ way to fly transatlantic, quoting the relative privacy and intimacy as well as the faster speed of service all thanks to a smaller cabin.
More airlines are expected to start serving the market with narrowbodies, with IAG having 14 A321XLR on order and 8 of them destined for Iberia.
The A321 fleet is the dominant player amongst the three common types at the momentwith most operators flying the jet. It is to be noted that Air Canada, Icelandair, and United have A321s on order and have plans to use them on transatlantic routes.
We could also see more 737s flying across the pond as the type had a greater presence before the grounding and many MAX flights have yet to be resumed after recertification, including WestJet’s services from Halifax and Air Canada’s from St. John’s, Newfoundland. The grounding, coupled with Norwegian’s bankruptcy, drastically reduced the number of transatlantic MAX services.
Anthony is an airline enthusiast who also loves traveling. He grew up around the world from St. Louis to Singapore and now lives in Amsterdam. He loves long-haul flying and finds peace in the sound of engine cruising. Fresh out of high school, he aspires to be working in the aviation industry and share his passion for the sky.
