Air Canada has unveiled the new cabins being installed across its fleet of Airbus A321s and A320s.
Features include a new cabin interior, new technologies and services such as Bluetooth audio, and free high-speed internet.
The new cabins mean Air Canada will have a standardized product across the narrowbody fleet.
With these upgrades, passengers on the A320s and A321s will enjoy the same cabin standard as those of the Airbus A220 and Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that comprise the majority of Air Canada’s narrowbody fleet.
The first aircraft with the new cabin is now in service. The remaining 14 Airbus A321s and 8 A320s will be retrofitted starting this by the end of 2025.
Highlights of new cabin features:
- Larger overhead bins – Latest Airbus Airspace XL design, the largest overhead bins in-class that will also be installed on the Airbus A321XLRs.
- Upgraded seating – The new seats are designed to optimize personal space, improve ergonomics and provide more storage.
- Bluetooth audio – Air Canada’s newest IFE system will feature a Bluetooth-enabled seatback monitor. Passengers will be able to connect their personal headsets while watching video on demand, live TV, or listening to podcasts or music.
- New exterior cameras – Passengers can now watch their flight live thanks to a tail and belly camera system providing high-resolution, real-time video of the aircraft exterior.
- Full colour LED mood lighting – New cabin lighting system allows different ambiances to be set depending on time of day and phase of flight.
- Fast and reliable Wi-Fi – Upgraded satellite-based connectivity.
- Power options at all seats – All passengers have access to power outlets, USB-A, and USB-C.
Passengers will also enjoy live TV on their flights with this new cabin, featuring BNN, CTV, LCN, RDS, TSN1 and TSN2 available on all flights operated by this aircraft, including when flying over the US.
Mark Nasr, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Digital, and President of Aeroplan.:
“We’re proud to welcome customers on board to experience the comfort, convenience, and connectivity of our latest cabins. These upgraded fleet interiors will align the A320s and A321s to the highly popular A220 experience, further strengthening our industry leading product offering.”
“Additionally, new features such as our inflight entertainment system streaming exterior aircraft camera feeds, Bluetooth connectivity, and free, fast internet connectivity will be extremely popular with travellers. We will continue advancing our product leadership by trialing more new in-flight experiences with this A321 and expanding those learnings to additional aircraft in our fleet.”
The green bit
The new cabin also reduces the overall weight of the A321 by approximately 240 kilograms.
That will reduce fuel consumption for the entire fleet once the work is completed by more than 2.4 million litres and reduce GHG emissions by 6,256 tCO2 equivalent per year, or the equivalent of the electricity used annually by 4,185 Canadian homes.
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada’s largest airline and flag carrier.
It provides scheduled service directly to more than 180 airports in Canada, the United States and Internationally on six continents.
Routes
Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to:
- 50 airports in Canada
- 47 in the United States
- 69 internationally
Air Canada operates over 190 aircraft, including:
- 33 Airbus A220
- 5 Airbus A319
- 16 Airbus A320
- 15 Airbus A321
- 18 Airbus A330
- 40 Boeing 737 MAX 8
- 25 Boeing 777
- 38 Boeing 787
Passenger numbers
In 2019, Air Canada, together with its Air Canada Express regional partners, carried over 51 million passengers.
Alliance
