On 19 December 2023, Jetstar took delivery of its 11th A321neoLR (Long Range) aircraft. With 232 seats, the LR is significantly larger than the 180 seat A320ceo that are the mainstay of Jetstar’s fleet. More importantly, the LR boasts a significantly longer range and improved fuel efficiency compared to the A320ceo and A321ceo, helping Jetstar expand capacity by displacing B787-8 flying on medium-haul routes and allowing the B787 to be redeployed on longer routes. This blog explores why the LR is quickly becoming the most important aircraft to the Qantas group.
A321ceo or neo, what is the difference?
Airbus announced an improved version of the incredibly successful A320 family in December 2010. The upgrades include a substantially new engine technology employing a “geared turbofan”. This led to the renaming of the aircraft as the A320neo, a play on words on the Greek word neo meaning new, but also an acronym for new engine option. As a result, the existing A320 family became colloquially known as the A320ceo, or current engine option.
The A321neo has continued to evolve. In early 2015 Airbus launched the LR with a promise of increasing the A321neo’s range from 3,500 to 4,000nm. This was achieved by additional fuel tanks and increasing the maximum take-off weight (MTOW) to lift that extra fuel. However, the stated range of 4,000nm is somewhat misleading since this doesn’t imply that the aircraft can fly a full payload this distance. Under optimal conditions (departure at sea level at a temperature of 15C), the LR will carry its maximum payload approximately 2,500nm. Between 2,500 and 4,000nm operators are trading fuel for payload. How does this work?
The LR has a MTOW of 97t and an empty weight (OEW) of approximately 50t although this will vary depending on the aircraft’s layout and ammenities.
The remainder (47t) can be made up of a combination of fuel and payload (crew, passengers, catering, baggage, cargo, etc).
Maximum fuel capacity is 26t, coincidently the maximum payload is also 26t.
A full fuel load and payload would amount to 52t, resulting in a take off weight (TOW) of 102t (OEW + payload). This exceeds the MTOW of 97t by 5t.
Thus, either the payload, fuel load, or a combination of both needs to be reduced by 5t. This induces a trade-off between fuel and payload.
Airlines have different aircraft configurations and crewing specifications, but the most significant predictor of payload is the passenger load. The passenger mix also affects the payload, as do different baggage practices. Catering is correlated with passengers numbers, but also affected by the specific route. It would be rather speculative to estimate Jetstar’s payload needs on each route, but safe to say, their high-density configuration is relatively heavy. However, a full payload (26t) allows only 21t of fuel to be lifted, likely sufficient for 6 to 7 hours flying time. This does not even account for the possibility that the aircraft’s TOW may be restricted due to weather conditions or runway limitations at origin or the need to carry additional holding fuel.