What's special about India's first Airbus A321 XLR aircraft?

Airbus A321 XLR, the world’s longest-range single-aisle commercial aircraft, touches down in Delhi on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, and IndiGo will be able to fly directly to Southern European countries.

The airline has announced to deploy the A321 XLR on the Mumbai-Athens route starting Jan 23 and Delhi-Athens on Jan 24. With this, IndiGo forays into long-range narrow-body operations and also becomes the only Indian carrier to offer direct flights between India and Greece.

This is the first of the 69 XLRs ordered by IndiGo from Airbus. The induction comes as the country’s largest airline by market share has been mired in controversy over mass cancellation and operational issues in December 2025.

The civil aviation ministry is looking into the matter and a committee constituted to look into the matter has submitted its report, pointing at rostering issues.

The experience

The Airbus A321XLR, with a range of up to 8,700 kms, will enable IndiGo to operate non-stop flights from India to Southern Europe while maintaining cost efficiency. This aircraft will feature 12 IndiGoStretch seats in a 2X2 configuration with a generous 44-inch seat pitch and a 6-inch recline.

The aircraft also features 183 Economy Class seats offering a 31-inch seat pitch and 5-inch recline for a comfortable travel experience. With an objective to keep customers engaged on the long journey, IndiGo has partnered with Bluebox to offer next-generation digital inflight experience on its A321XLRs.

It enables customers to enjoy wide range of entertainment on their personal devices—including popular Indian and Hollywood films, TV shows, games, anime, and animated series. The experience is further enhanced with in-seat power supply and device holders.

Meanwhile, complimentary hot meals and beverages inspired by local and global flavours will be served to all customers on this route. The default meals will be vegetarian, although an option to pre-book non- vegetarian meals will be available at the time of booking.

Additionally, alcoholic beverages can be purchased by customers on-board the Economy cabin and will be offered with compliments to IndiGoStretch customers.