Airbus announces the progress of A321XLR flight test: two prototype planes nearing completion will be put into forensic flight test one after another.

CTOnews.com, October 10, according to the progress of the A321XLR test flight announced by Airbus, following the completion of the maiden flight of the ultra-long-range A321XLR with serial number 11000, in the next few weeks, two other prototype planes that are nearing completion will be put into forensic flight tests one after another.

Gary O'Donnell, head of Airbus's A321XLR program, said that by the end of this year, the company's focus will be on completing the production of (three) prototypes and then obtaining flight permits for the remaining test aircraft. By the fourth quarter of this year, the three aircraft will be engaged in intensive test flights.

According to reports, the A321XLR R & D project will include four test aircraft, namely three newly manufactured A321XLR and an upgraded and modified ordinary A321neo (production serial number MSN6839), which has been installed with several important new functions designed for XLR.

In addition, once all these R & D aircraft are put into test flight, their flight test activities will be carried out on a global scale. The testing activities of the ground laboratory will be carried out at the same time as the flight test in order to finalize a series of standard modifications.

CTOnews.com learned that with these tests completed, Airbus said it would submit all final documents to airworthiness regulators around the end of next year, "which will enable us to fully validate a finalized aircraft and obtain airworthiness permits for it."