Airbus A321XLR ""no longer assigned"" to Aer Lingus

The Airbus A321XLR, due to be delivered September 2024, will now no longer be delivered to Aer Lingus as originally planned. In a statement from International Airlines Group (IAG), the reason given was ""Aer Lingus has not been able to give IAG the assurances needed on cost structure to ensure the returns required to invest in its fleet. ""IAG has decided that the Airbus XLR planned to be assigned to Aer Lingus for delivery in September 2024 will no longer be assigned to Aer Lingus. ""We will only make fleet investments where it makes commercial sense to do so and where we can generate a return from doing so.  No decision has been made yet on future XLR deliveries."" The order for the A321XLR was placed in 2019 (https://www.aviationnews-online.com/airline/iag-takes-14-a321-xlrs-destined-for-iberia-and-aer-lingus/), with a total of 14 ordered. Six of those were designated for Aer Lingus. The remaining eight were allocated to fellow IAG airline, Iberia. At its Capital Markets Day presentation in November, 2023, IAG explained it intends for Iberia to use the A321XLR to fly from Madrid to multiple new US destinations, such as Washington and Baltimore.