Wizz Air Reveals The 1st Low-Cost Airbus A321XLR Route

European low-cost carrier Wizz Air has revealed the first route that it will use the Airbus A321XLR on. The airline will be the first low-cost carrier to operate the XLR (eXtra Long Range) when it launches flights to the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 31st, 2025.

After a minor delay and some confusion over who the launch airline would be, the Airbus A321XLR is finally set to debut with the Spanish flag carrier Iberia later this year. However, Iberia is just one of many airlines that expect to take delivery of this aircraft type, and it seems that we won’t have to wait long to see it in other colors.

Connecting London Gatwick Airport to Jeddah

Earlier today Wizz Air’s CEO, József Váradi, revealed that the airline had decided on its first Airbus A321XLR route. This will see the airline connecting its London Gatwick Airport hub to Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport. This is a distance of 4,715 kilometers (2,929 miles) as the crow (or the Airbus A321XLR) flies.

With a flight time of almost seven hours, this is not a short-haul hop and prices for the trip won’t be as low as you might expect from short European hops. According to Wizz Air, tickets are already on sale starting from just £134.99 ($177) with discounted fares available for the airline’s discount club subscribers. The airline’s booking engine shows the following flight schedule will operated by Wizz Air UK with the aircraft daily,

Commenting on the route launch, Varadi remarked,

”
The Airbus A321XLR is the most cost-efficient aircraft in its class… We are excited to offer unbeatable fares to our customers on the new route from London Gatwick to Jeddah. Since establishing our base at London Gatwick in 2020, we have demonstrated ambitious growth, making it a natural, strategic decision to operate our first Airbus A321XLR from this airport.”

The second route has also been revealed

Wizz Air’s second Airbus A321XLR route has also simultaneously been revealed. This route will see two Wizz Air hubs linked with daily flights connecting Milan Malpensa Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport from June 2nd, 2025. This route has a distance as the crow flies of 4,714km (2,929 miles), making it almost identical in distance to the London to Jeddah route.

The Milan-Abu Dhabi route will be operated daily by Wizz Air Malta with the following schedule,

Interestingly, despite having a similar distance as the crow flies, the inaugural Abu Dhabi flight is priced from €99.99 ($110), making it just 62% of the starting price of the London-Jeddah route.