Air Canada took flight with its first redesigned Airbus A321 aircraft over the weekend. The new interior design features improvements to the cabin, WiFi, and exterior cameras connected to the plane's seatback entertainment system.
The A321 also features larger overhead bins, cabin lighting, and enhanced inflight entertainment. AC says the remaining 14 Airbus A321s and its eight A320s will be retrofitted starting this fall through to the end of 2025.
"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," said Mark Nasr, EVP, Loyalty and Product.
"Additionally, new features such as our inflight entertainment system streaming exterior aircraft camera feeds, Bluetooth connectivity, and free, fast internet connectivity will be extremely popular with travellers. We will continue advancing our product leadership by trialing more new in-flight experiences with this A321 and expanding those learnings to additional aircraft in our fleet."
Customers on board Air Canada flight AC692 operated with Fin 451 (C-GITU) Saturday shared a pilot's eye view of the take-off due to new exterior cameras connected to the aircraft's seatback entertainment system. The new camera feature, a first for a narrow-body aircraft, is one of several innovations unveiled with the airline's first upgraded Airbus A321.
The new interior coming to AC's fleet of A321 and A320s. (Photo Credit: Air Canada)
Highlights of new cabin features include:
Larger overhead bins – Latest Airbus Airspace XL design, the largest overhead bins in-class that will also be installed on the Airbus A321XLRs.
Upgraded seating – Presents a standardized product across the Air Canada narrowbody fleet in both Business Class and Economy. The new seats are designed to optimize passenger personal space, improve ergonomics, and provide more storage.
Bluetooth audio – Air Canada's newest IFE system will feature a Bluetooth-enabled seatback monitor. Customers will be able to connect their personal headsets while watching video on demand, live TV, or listening to podcasts or music.
New exterior cameras – Customers can now watch their flight live thanks to a new first-in-class narrowbody tail and belly camera system providing high-resolution, real-time video of the aircraft exterior.
Full colour LED mood lighting – New cabin lighting system will allow different ambiances to be set depending on time of day and phase of flight.
Fast and reliable Wi-Fi – Upgraded satellite-based connectivity.
Power options at all seats – All customers have access to power outlets, USB-A, and USB-C.
The new IFE system being installed on the Airbus A321 and A320 fleets will feature in-flight entertainment via screens at each seat, offering what Air Canada says is the most extensive content overall of any airline in the Americas. Customers will also enjoy live TV on their flights with this new cabin, featuring BNN, CTV, LCN, RDS, TSN1 and TSN2 available on all flights operated by this aircraft, including when flying over the U.S.
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