Air Transat’s new Airbus A321LR flew its first service from Montreal to London Gatwick on Tuesday. The Airbus A321LR, which is being leased from AerCap, was delivered to Air Transat on 28 June.

Air Transat completed its first Airbus A321LR flight from Montreal to London Gatwick yesterday.

The aircraft, registered C-GOIF, is the second Airbus A321LR to join Air Transat’s fleet. The two Airbus A321LRs now in service with Air Transat will be joined by a further 13 of the same type over the next three years.

All are being leased from AerCap, which owns, manages or leases well over 1,000 aircraft in total.

The Airbus A321LR is the newest type to enter Air Transat’s fleet. They will provide the airline with a more efficient, modern upgrade to its ageing Airbus A310s.

In a press release published earlier in the year, Air Transat’s Chief Operating Officer, Annick Guérard, said:

“The arrival of this new generation of aircraft is an important moment for our company and our passengers in many respects. The Airbus A321neoLR represents what Air Transat stands for today and what we strive for in the coming years”.

Air Transat’s first Montreal-London flight with an Airbus A321LR

Wednesday’s inaugural Montreal-London Airbus A321LR flight was flown by Air Transat’s second Airbus A321LR. Flight TS728 departed Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport at 22:22 local time on Monday 7 October.

After a flight of 5 hours 43 minutes, C-GOIF touched down at London Gatwick Airport 43 minutes ahead of schedule at 09:06 local time.

It wasn’t long before C-GOIF was back up in the air for its return journey to Montreal. Departing London Gatwick at 11:30 GMT, it touched down in Montreal at 14:10 local time.

The flight time on the way back to Canada was significantly longer as a result of the westerly winds of the jet stream. At 7 hours 18 minutes, the return leg of the journey was 1 hour 35 minutes longer in total.

Air Transat’s plans for its Airbus A321LRs

Air Transat clearly plans to make good use of its new Airbus A321LRs. Alongside the Montreal-London route, the airline also announced its plans to operate the new aircraft on its Montreal-Copenhagen route, beginning this summer.

A quick look at the Flight Radar 24 data for C-GOIF and C-GOIE shows that Air Transat’s Airbus A321LRs are also regularly flying from Montreal to a number of destinations in France and Portugal.

These other European destinations include Lisbon, Porto, Nice and Bordeaux.

The new, revamped interiors of Air Transat’s Airbus A321LRs will help the airline deliver a premium, transatlantic service to customers.

Not only are the interiors of the Airbus A321LR nicer than the airline’s old Airbus A310s, but the Airbus A321LR is also 50% quieter than older models.

When it is competing with the large American, European and even Canadian carriers on transatlantic flights, Air Transat needs to differentiate itself from the competition as much as it can.