Iberia takes delivery of its seventh Airbus A321XLR
While it remains to be seen when the seventh A321XLR will enter service, Iberia is launching a new route with the type on January 19.
Iberia has taken delivery of its seventh Airbus A321XLR, leaving the Spanish airline with a single upcoming A321XLR delivery to complete its order book for the type.
On December 30, 2025, Iberia welcomed its seventh A321XLR. The aircraft, registered as EC-ORE, operated a short flight from Toulouse Blagnac Airport (TLS) to Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD), landing at the Spanish airport at 17:20 local time (UTC +1).
According to Aviation Flights Group, which tracks aircraft throughout their assembly process, the airframe was first spotted at TLS on November 8, 2025. While it was fully painted in Iberia’s livery, it still lacked the two CFM International LEAP-1A engines on its wings.
Iberia’s seventh A321XLR operated its first flight on December 11, completing three more flights on December 19, December 24, and December 28, before Airbus finally handed over the aircraft to the Spanish carrier on December 30, 2025.
While the airframe joined the airline’s fleet, Flightradar24 does not show any scheduled flights for EC-ORE in the coming days. However, the aircraft could enter service in the coming weeks as Iberia expands the network of destinations served with its A321XLRs with the addition of a flight between MAD and Fortaleza Pinto Martins International Airport (FOR).
Services from MAD to FOR will begin on January 19, with the Spanish carrier operating three weekly flights – four weekly departures from February – to the Brazilian airport, its second A321XLR destination in the country. It launched flights to Recife Airport (REC) on December 13, 2025.
In addition to the two Brazilian destinations, Iberia has also scheduled its A321XLRs to fly to three airports in the United States: Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
Iberia’s other A321XLR destinations include Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH), San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU), and Santo Domingo Las Americas International Airport (SDQ), according to Cirium's Diio Mi.
When the Spanish airline welcomed its sixth A321XLR, registered as EC-OQG, the aircraft was delivered to MAD on November 20, 2025, and on November 29, 2025, the jet flew from MAD to Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO). Its first long-haul journey was on December 2, 2025, when the aircraft operated flight IB 263 from MAD to SDQ, an eight-hour hop across the Atlantic Ocean.
Currently, Iberia has six other active A321XLRs, after one of its aircraft of the type, registered as EC-OOJ, returned to commercial service on December 27, 2025. The aircraft had been parked at MAD following a bird strike event on August 3, 2025.
The Spanish Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents Investigation Commission (Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación Civil, CIAIAC) later detailed that after the A321XLR struck a large bird, the incident resulted in damage to the radome, with debris from the radome and the bird being ingested by the left-hand engine.
The A321XLR returned to the Spanish capital, where it had remained inactive until December 26, when it operated a test flight before its return to service the next day. At the time of publishing, EC-OOJ is on its way to JFK.
On March 29, 2026, its A321XLRs will no longer fly to JFK, at least for the summer 2026 season, with Iberia launching flights from MAD to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on that day. MAD-EWR flights will be operated daily, while the Spanish carrier will utilize its widebodies to operate its double-daily itineraries between MAD and JFK during the summer 2026 season.
Rytis Beresnevicius
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