Wizz Air UK (W9, London Luton) took delivery of its first A321-200NY(XLR) on May 20, around two months behind the original schedule.
G-XLRA (msn 11631) was ferried from Airbus' Hamburg Finkenwerder plant to London Luton. The aircraft is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1000 engines and can seat up to 239 passengers in an all-economy cabin configuration. The delivery of the aircraft was deferred twice, it having originally been expected to arrive in March 2025.
Wizz Air UK intends to deploy the jet on the London Gatwick-Jeddah International route. The budget carrier initially planned to operate only an A321XLR on the route but was forced to inaugurate the service with an A321-200NX. Due to the shorter range, Wizz Air introduced a passenger capacity limit on its A321NX in order to enable non-stop operations.
Wizz Air previously announced a new service between Milan Malpensa and Abu Dhabi International for June 2025 operated by the A321XLR, but the route was cancelled for unknown reasons. Hungary's foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said during a state visit to India that Wizz Air could introduce a new route from Budapest and Mumbai International, with a potential Delhi International service also under consideration. However, the airline has not officially announced plans for an expansion to India.
According to ch-aviation fleets data, Wizz Air UK currently operates eighteen A321-200NX aircraft. It has forty-seven A321XLRs on order across its four AOCs (also including Wizz Air Malta and joint venture Wizz Air Abu Dhabi). The company is the fourth-largest customer for the A321XLR, with only IndiGo Airlines, American Airlines, and United Airlines poised to receive more jets.
The A321XLR is currently in service with Iberia and Aer Lingus, with the two airlines operating three and two aircraft, respectively. The Spanish flag carrier was the launch operator of the type, receiving the first unit in October 2024 and currently deploying the aircraft on services to the United States.
