Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat will take 10 Airbus A321neo LRs on a 12-year lease from Dublin-based lessor AerCap, making it the North American launch operator for the LR variant.

The aircraft will be delivered between spring 2019 and fall 2020, replacing Air Transat’s Airbus A310s, which will be gradually retired from the fleet.

“The A321neo LRs will perfectly complete our fleet of A330s and Boeing 737s. These aircraft are also an ideal solution for replacing our A310s,” Air Transat president and CEO Jean-Marc Eustache said.

Air Transat plans to configure the A321neo LRs with 200 seats in a club and economy layout, operating them to sun destinations and on transatlantic routes such as Montreal-Nice.

“This is an ideal aircraft for the North American market, and particularly for a carrier like Air Transat. It gives operators a highly efficient and affordable modern option for their transatlantic routes, and we look forward to other North American carriers following Air Transat’s example,” Airbus COO-customers John Leahy said.

Montreal-based Air Transat has a fleet of 31 permanent aircraft, which it uses in a “flexible-fleet model.” This allows it to deploy more widebody aircraft in the summer transatlantic season and narrowbody aircraft in winter for sun destinations.