Airbus poised to deliver first A321XLR, sources say

Airbus is in the process of finalising delivery of its longest-range single-aisle jet, the A321XLR, to Spanish airline Iberia, industry sources said on Tuesday. The keenly awaited delivery - the first of a new variant of the best-selling A321 jet - involves a formal handover and transfer of ownership, though the Spanish airline will not officially welcome the plane into its fleet until next month. The plane is scheduled to depart Hamburg, Germany, where it was assembled, for Madrid at 1500 GMT on Wednesday, just ahead of Airbus' quarterly earnings announcement, according to departure information posted by FlightRadar24. An Airbus spokesperson declined comment. Iberia did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but its parent IAG, which also owns British Airways, said the Spanish airline would hold a ceremony to mark the delivery on Nov. 6. The delivery, originally due in 2023, will revive industry attention towards a hotly contested part of the market between Airbus and Boeing. Launched in 2019 to steal a march on Boeing's plans at the time to build a new jet in the middle of the market, the A321XLR targets a gap left by the out-of-production Boeing 757, where the A321 family outsells the largest versions of the 737 MAX.<br/>