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Telegraph

Telegraph

The radical new aircraft threatening Heathrow’s grip on global travel

Telegraph
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Airbus ’s A321 XLR is poised to change the way we fly and weaken the dominance of mega-airports such as Heathrow in the process.

The XLR can connect cities up to 4,700 nautical miles apart further than London to Delhi .

Its size means it can serve far-flung destinations from smaller airports that would struggle to accommodate larger planes needed for long haul.

Wizz Air has ordered 47 XLRs and plans to launch operations with seven-hour flights from Gatwick to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from March .

Aer Lingus will use the plane to open up new destinations and serve some existing ones.

Low-cost airlines that already operate Airbus A320 -family planes are turning to the XLR to expand their networks without additional crew and pilot training.