F9 CEO Says SNN is "Hitting them up"..A321XLR Purchase

With 18 Airbus A321XLR aircraft slated to be delivered to Frontier Airlines, the US ULCC is considering entering the transatlantic market, and has not ruled out long-haul flights to South America.



The A321XLR, which completed its first flight in June and is scheduled to enter service in 2024, will be the longest-range single-aisle aircraft produced in decades and the farthest-flying narrowbody in the current global fleet. With a range of 4,700 nm, it will be able to fly 30% farther than the baseline A321neo and 700 nm more than the A321LR variant currently in service.



Denver (DEN)-based Frontier flies extensively domestically with a growing near-international network, but the carrier—an all-A320 family aircraft operator—does not currently have aircraft with the range to cross the Atlantic. That will change in 2026, when the airline starts taking delivery of its A321XLR aircraft.



The A321XLR “will enable us to fly to Europe, Hawaii and deeper into South America,” Frontier CEO Barry Biffle says.

Flying transatlantic is “definitely in consideration,” he added.



Biffle said that he had spoken to a representative from Ireland’s Shannon Airport (SNN) who was “hitting me up because he knows we've got the XLR coming.”