Airbus A321XLR Enters Final Certification And Flight-Testing Phase

The highly anticipated Airbus A321XLR is in the last stages of its certification and flight testing. The European airplane manufacturer has also given a roadmap of how it plans to support the A321XLR customers in the initial phase of the plane’s entry into service as well, along with long-term support.

Working towards certification

Airbus has said that it is working on the “Instructions for Continued Airworthiness” (ICAs) for the A321XLR aircraft to meet its fixed deadline in the summer of 2024. The ICAs ensure that the type certification airworthiness standard is maintained throughout each aircraft’s operational life.

Photo: Airbus

These are extensive documents that detail far-out scheduled maintenance tasks, even those to be performed 10 years after service entry (EIS). In order to acquire airworthiness for an aircraft type, it is crucial for the ICAs to be completed 100% at the time of EIS, for each aircraft delivery.

Airbus admits that this process is one of the biggest challenges for the type certification and entry-into-service of any new aircraft off the production line and said that it has all the resources in place to meet any last-minute hurdles.

Design modification

The A321XLR is part of Airbus’ highly successful A320 family of aircraft. As such, it shares many commonalities with the rest of the planes in the family. Still, to extend its range to 4,700 nautical miles, or 11 hours of flying time, the manufacturer has introduced certain changes.

For example, the A321XLR has received new main landing gears, new wing flaps, new integrated long-range rear center fuel tank (RCT) requiring a new fuel system, a new high-capacity water & waste system, a new extended belly-fairing, and higher maximum take-off weight. All of these involve changes to their related ICAs.

Photo: Airbus

Why do such changes require new ICAs? Airbus explains by citing the example of the XLR’s new extended belly fairing design. It has been introduced to protect the rear center fuel tank in the event of a belly landing. In fact, the FAA recently also proposed safety requirements for the A321XLR amid external fuel fire concerns.

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The added feature requires updating of the structural repair manual (SRM) coverage, which is part of the aircraft’s new ICA. The team overseeing the final certification process has to factor in all these changes and the required course of action.

Providing initial support

Airbus has deployed teams from its customer service department to ensure that new customers can introduce the A321XLRs into their fleets and operations seamlessly. For this, the plane maker is preparing a team of technical specialists to be placed in-situ within each launch operator for a period of around six months. Airbus says,

“That person, who would act as the airline’s dedicated entry-point into Airbus’ support organization, will have gleaned all the necessary technical expertise from the programme’s former design maturity activities, as well as feedback from the year-long flight-test campaigns.”

Photo: Airbus

Indeed, given the expectations from the A321XLR among airlines, Airbus wants to ensure that customers face minimal hurdles or teething issues during the plane’s deployment in the initial months.

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