Icelandair officially joins the Airbus family

Icelandair is now an Airbus operator. The carrier took delivery of its first A321LR on Tuesday, beginning the process of replacing its 757 fleet.

The delivery of the first Airbus is a significant milestone in Icelandair’s 87-year history, and we look forward to welcoming our passengers on board later this month. The aircraft will unleash new opportunities for our great company, and for Iceland as a destination and hub between continents. The efficient A321 will further strengthen our business model, increase our flexibility and further support our sustainability efforts. – Bogi Nils Bogason, Icelandair President and CEO

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Next-generation IFE

Passengers on the Icelandair A321LR will be the first to experience Panasonic Avionics’ Astrova in-flight entertainment platform. The carrier is the launch customer for the nose-to-tail deployment.

Astrova brings 4K OLED HDR screens into the cabin. Saga class will have 16″ screens while economy class gets 13″ screens. Passengers in both cabins will be able to pair their Bluetooth headphones with the system to experience Spatial Audio. They can also charge personal devices with 67W USB-C ports at every seat.

Icelandair also chose PAC’s Arc moving map offering and ZeroTouch content loading. The carrier will also leverage PAC’s OneMedia to help boost ancillary revenue via the intelligent advertising platform to promote products and partnerships as part of the entertainment experience.

Celebrating the first deployment of Astrova, Hernan Abbes, Vice President of Global Sales at Panasonic Avionics, said, “We are thrilled to officially launch our award-winning Astrova IFE solution into the skies on Icelandair’s new
A321neo LR fleet. Icelandair was particularly impressed with Astrova’s advanced capabilities and modular architecture, recognizing it as the ideal solution to enhance their passenger experience.”

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Extending IFC with Viasat

Icelandair’s A321LR also carries the Viasat inflight internet solution on board. The carrier has been deploying Viasat’s solution since it began its fleet modernization program with the 737 MAX in 2018.

Viasat‘s Ka-band satellite constellation provides gate-to-gate coverage across the Icelandair route map, supporting streaming entertainment, productivity tools, and crew connectivity.

Updated Cabin Layout

The new A321LRs feature a two-class layout, similar to the 757s they will replace. The aircraft seats 187 passengers, 22 in Saga Premium and 165 in Economy, a handful more than the 757s can carry.

The recliner seats in Saga class are built on the Geven Comoda line, while economy class is Gevens’ Elemento seat. Both promise passenger comfort balanced with lighter weights than prior generations of seating to help further reduce fuel burn and emissions.

The aircraft’s 4,000 nautical mile range allows it to serve all of the markets the 752 currently flies for the airline.