Air Canada has unveiled the first of its redesigned A321 aircraft, featuring a new cabin interior and enhanced tech features.
The carrier is continuing to invest in improvements across its A321 and A320 aircraft.
New features include exterior tail and belly cameras which are connected to the aircraft’s setback IFE system, enabling passengers to get high-res, real-time videos. The airline says that the camera feature is a first for a narrow body aircraft.
Additionally, seatback monitors are now Bluetooth-enabled, allowing customers to use their personal headsets and reducing the usage of single-use headphones as a result. Customers will also be able to watch live TV on flights operated by this aircraft, including when flying over the US.
Further tech features include high-speed wifi from communications firm Bell, and both USB-A and USB-C power outlets at all seats.
Seats, meanwhile, will be standardised across the narrowbody fleet in both business class and economy. According to the carrier the seats are “designed to optimise passenger personal space, improve ergonomics, and provide more storage giving customers a more comfortable experience”.
On the design front, the cabin has larger overhead bins in the latest Airspace XL design – which will also be installed on the A321 XLRs – and a new LED mood lighting system which will change depending on the time of day and phase of flight.
Mark Nasr, executive VP loyalty and product at Air Canada, commented:
“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…
“We will continue advancing our product leadership by trialling more new inflight experiences with this A321 and expanding those learnings to additional aircraft in our fleet.”
Air Canada’s remaining 14 Airbus A321s and its eight A320s will be retrofitted starting this fall through to the end of 2025.
The redesign has also reduced the overall weight of the A321 by approximately 240kg. According to the carrier, this will reduce fuel consumption for the entire fleet once the work is completed by more than 2.4 million litres and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6,256 tCO2 equivalent per year.
