Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) has revealed interior images of its first Airbus A321neo, which was delivered on 25 June from Hamburg on lease from AerCap, and inducted into revenue service earlier this month.
According to Flightradar24, the carrier has been using the twinjet to link its Baku base with a cluster of Turkish cities, as well as Milan and Islamabad.
Featuring Airbus’ spectacular Airspace cabin with extra-large flip-up bins, the 191-seat twinjet (registration VP-BCP) offers a significantly differentiated experience in business and economy class, with AZAL opting to install large Panasonic Avionics seatback inflight entertainment screens up front and provide wireless-only IFE down back.
Based on the popular Comoda Materia Pack short-haul business class platform from Italian seatmaker Geven, the 12 recliners on AZAL’s A321neo offer generous legroom, a legrest and a cocktail table on the center console.
Each business class seat also features a 4K OLED HDR10+ IFE screen from Panasonic Avionics’ next-gen Astrova line. In a video shared on the socials, AZAL says the screens are sized 19″.
Geven and Panasonic are accustomed to working together (see the pairing of Comoda Materia Pack and Astrova for Icelandair’s A321LRs). But AZAL’s business class seats on the A321neo appear to represent a new seat/IFE integration project for the two suppliers, as Comoda is traditionally offered with screen sizes of up to roughly 16″.
Their collaboration is not relegated to a single A321neo.
Last month, Panasonic revealed that it has been tapped to bring Astrova to 11 of AZAL’s Airbus narrowbodies: five more A321neos for a total of six, and five A320neos through a combination of linefit and retrofit installations. More widely, Astrova is being rolled out across 22 aircraft in the AZAL fleet.
Panasonic’s cloud-based Modular Interactive tool, which enables the airline to customize the IFE experience, is also being deployed on AZAL jets. Image: Panasonic Avionics
Universal power, fast-charging USB-C outlets, complimentary Viasat-powered inflight connectivity and wireless IFE round out the offering in business class on AZAL’s first A321neo.
At the rear of the business class cabin, a custom cabin branding element adds a refined and premium touch. Manufactured by ABC International, AZAL’s logo crest boasts a full-metallic finish with a three-dimensional effect.
Down back, the economy class cabin features 179 slimline seats. AZAL says the seats are pitched at 30”.
AZAL is not offering seatback IFE in economy, but passengers can keep their devices charged with Astronics’ EMPOWER USB outlet in the seatback, and avail of free wireless IFE or paid access to the Viasat IFC.
Since early this month, AZAL has been using the A321neo on flights connecting Baku with the Turkish cities of Ankara, Istanbul, Trabzon and Bodrum. Today, the twinjet is connecting Baku with Milan and Islamabad, according to Flightradar24.
So far, AZAL has accepted delivery of four new jets this year: the A321neo and three A320neos, including a A320neo that arrived today.
“Looking ahead, we plan to expand our fleet with a record number of new aircraft by the end of this year and increase its size to 50 aircraft by 2032. As passenger demand continues to grow, expanding our route network and enhancing connectivity will remain at the heart of our long-term strategy,” the airline says in a statement.
All images credited to AZAL unless otherwise stated.
