Airbus A321LR makes first flight
Airbus’s first long range A321LR narrowbody has completed its maiden flight, bringing the aircraft a step closer to perhaps being seen in Australia.
The first flight of the A321LR, MSN7877, powered by two CFM Leap-1A engines, took place from Airbus’s Hamburg facility, with the six-person flightcrew testing the aircraft’s flight controls, engines and main systems including flight envelope protections, both at high and low speed, during the two hours and 36 minutes spent in the air, Airbus said in a statement on Thursday (European time).
The aircraft’s livery features Paris’s iconic Eiffel Tower and New York’s equally recognisable Statue of Liberty on the fuselage to illustrate the aircraft’s transatlantic flight capability.
The A321LR is expected to undergo about 100 hours of flight testing. Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected in the second quarter of calendar 2018, with entry into service before the end of the year.
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