HAMBURG (Reuters) – Airbus on Wednesday launched the maiden flight of its newest and largest narrowbody airliner, the A321XLR, as the European planemaker seeks to capitalise on lucrative demand for long-range single-aisle jets.
The twin-engined passenger jet took off at 11:05 a.m.
local time (0905 GMT) from a factory in Hamburg, Germany, ahead of more than a year of trials before the latest addition to its best-selling A320 medium-haul family enters service in 2024.
(Reporting by Jan Schwartz, Writing by Tim Hepher, Editing by Paul Carrel and Miranda Murray)
