Sharklet 321 launched!

I hate seeing the B757 replaced! Its one of my most favourite aircraft.

The A321 has a wing area of around 1320 sq ft, the 757’s wing area is around 1950, or 47% more. There is no way that the A321, even with winglets, can approach the payload-range capability of the 757. And, don’t forget, airlines are equipping the 757’s with winglets also. In fact, many of them have been equipped for several years…..it’s nice to see airbus finally catching up :). IMHO the reason it hasn’t happened sooner is that the payback for the winglets is less for short haul flying, and the 321 wasn’t really built for/isn’t capable of long routes that the 757 can/does fly.

The A321 is a great airplane for flying around Europe, but isn’t really a competitor to the 757.

The 757 has been around awhile, but it was really a leap forward when it came out. The 727 burned around 85-90 lbs of fuel per pax, the 757 around 38, so it was/is hugely efficient, especially with the unreliable PW2037 engines. The RR engine is MUCH more reliable, but weighs more and burns slightly more fuel, a double whammy payload wise. Still, if I had 757’s in my airline fleet, I would want the RR, due to fact that it runs 20-30,000 hours on the wing whereas the Pratt rarely makes it beyond 10,000 hours, and the average is something like half that.

Finally, I would add that Boeing only recently closed down the 757 line, so there are some fairly young frames out there that will soldier on for many years. IMHO, what killed the 757 was that Boeing just wanted too much money for it.

An A321 with winglets can’t replace the 757 in range and payload either.
In a straight out and out drag race, for range with any weight of payload the 757 aces the A321.

But if you don’t need to a plane capable of the range the 757 has at MTOW, then the A321 will fit nicely.
As far as I am aware, the 757 can get to its cruise height faster and also fly higher with a heavier MTOW than the A321.

What realy lets the 757 down these days is its age 🙁

I f I read this correctly:

The 321 with sharklets may replace the 757’vens.
But Finnair may may not ordering more A330’s because they are becoming available more cheaply on the used market.
I don’t think an upgraded A321 can directly replace a A330 in range and capacity.

rgds
EC