British charter airline Titan Airways has taken delivery of its second Airbus A321neo jet. Arriving in the UK from Germany on Wednesday afternoon, it joins Titan’s VIP-liveried Royal Air Force A321LR and is meant to replace the carrier’s aging Boeing 757s as it moves towards an all-Airbus fleet.
First flight just over a week ago
The four-month-old A321LR, registered as G-GBNI, flew from the manufacturer’s facility in Hamburg at 13:51 and landed at Titan Airways’ base at London Stansted one hour and 16 minutes later at 14:07 local time. The aircraft previously had test registration D-AYAY and took its first flight just over a week ago, on March 23rd.
Here's the brand new @airbus @airbusintheuk #A321neo , reg G-GBNI, of @TitanAirways being delivered from Hamburg (XFW) to @STN_Airport this afternoon.
This is the 2nd & last A321neo to be delivered to Titan, I believe.
https://t.co/d0ocvIhpP6 pic.twitter.com/bkM13hr0fL
— Thomas (@picsthomasgg) March 31, 2021
Exciting prospects ahead
The UK-based ACMI wet lease and charter specialist Titan Airways operates everything from charter routes to Banjul in the Gambia to flying the first Boeing 767 to Antarctica in November 2019. It is yet unclear where the airline intends to deploy the latest addition to its fleet. However, the intention is for it to replace the operator’s 20-year-old Boeing 757s.
Simple Flying has reached out to Titan Airways for more details on the delivery and future plans, but the airline was not immediately available for comment.
Joining Titan’s VIP A321LR for the RAF
This is the first A321neo wholly owned by Titan Airways. The first of the A321LRs, which arrived with the airline on October 26th last year, was leased from major lessor Air Lease Corporation (ALC).
Registered as G-XATW, it has been parked while being adorned with the UK government’s VIP livery. Titan Airways will operate it on behalf of the Royal Air Force, and it is thought to serve for official visits that do not require the range of the new Airbus A330 ‘Boris Force One’.
G-XATW was the first aircraft to be delivered with Airbus’ new inflight entertainment system entirely based on wireless technology. The ‘Open Software Platform’ (OSP) system will allow airlines to source content from a variety of IFE partners.
Moving towards all-Airbus operations
Titan Airways is moving towards fleet simplification. The A321neos will replace the aging Boeing 757s, and the airline retired its one Boeing 767 in April 2020. It will instead offer widebody services with an Airbus A330. The seven-year-old jet, registered as G-POWX, is leased from Irish lessor Avolon and is due to arrive with Titan Airways shortly. The plane was previously operated by Avianca.
The airline also has six A321ceos with an average age of 16 years, two A320ceos with an average age of 12 years, and an 11-year-old A318. It also operates two ex-British Airways Boeing 737s reconfigured for cargo, averaging 28 years between them.
Have you ever been on board a Titan Airways aircraft? Are you excited about the long-range and extra long-range capacity of narrowbody jets? Leave a comment below and let us know.
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