The first commercial flight was conducted for SAS with the new A321LR on Monday morning.
The flight was carried out as an operational test between Copenhagen to Oslo on Monday morning. Before the major premiere across the Atlantic is to be carried out on Wednesday, when the aircraft SE-DMR will fly from Copenhagen Airport to Washington in the USA.
In 2019, the news came that SAS had ordered three A321s. The aircraft type Airbus A321LR is a narrow-body specially configured to fly longer distances than a standard A321neo. The aircraft has sufficient range to reach Northeast US, one of the most important intercontinental markets for SAS. The A321LR can also reach destinations in Canada, the Middle East, and India from Scandinavia.
This gives SAS an opportunity to offer travelers more intercontinental routes, fewer stopovers, and shorter travel times to and from Scandinavia.
The first aircraft was supposed to enter service in the first half of 2020, but then covid-19 happened and the plans needed to be changed. As the A321LR has a relatively small opportunity for freight, it has not been used during the pandemic as a complement to the larger A330s.
The new A321LR is equipped with 157 seats in three service classes, Business Class with 22 seats, SAS Plus with 12 seats, and SAS go with room for 123 passengers.
With fewer seats, means a greater possibility for thinner lines, and both Gothenburg Landvetter and Bergen Flesland have been relevant for traffic across the Atlantic Ocean. Whether which routes we will see the A321LR operate is unclear for now, except destinations as Boston and Washington from Copenhagen.
(Photo: SAS)
