Icelandair (FI, Reykjavik Keflavik) has taken delivery of its first A321-200NX(LR) on December 3. The airline plans to debut it in commercial service on December 10.
TF-IAA (msn 12213) flew to Reykjavik Keflavik directly from Hamburg Finkenwerder. It is the first of twenty extended-range A321neo aircraft (including seven A321-200NX(LR)s and thirteen A321-200NY(XLR)s) that Icelandair expects to receive in the coming years as part of its fleet renewal and growth strategy.
The airline will deploy its first Airbus aircraft on December 10 on flights from Reykjavik Keflavik to Stockholm Arlanda and Copenhagen Kastrup. Then, starting on January 1, it will be redeployed on daily routes to London Heathrow and Oslo Gardermoen, and, from May 1, to Toronto Pearson, ch-aviation reported.
Icelandair expects to add three more A321-200NX(LR)s in the first half of 2025. All seven are on contracts from lessors - five from SMBC Aviation Capital and two from CDB Aviation, while the XLRs are sourced directly from Airbus.
B757-300 retirement delay
Simultaneously, Icelandair has postponed the retirement of its remaining two B757-300s, which were supposed to leave the company in October.
TF-FIX (msn 29434) last operated a scheduled revenue service on December 1, flying from Reykjavik to Copenhagen, before being ferried to Samarkand, ADS-B data shows. Meanwhile, TF-ISX (msn 30179) last flew from Copenhagen to Reykjavik on November 28, where it remains. Both aircraft are still registered in the Icelandic aircraft registry.
ch-aviation has reached out to Icelandair for comment on the retirement of the B757-300s.
