PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus launched its A321XLR jet and announced orders for the new model, as the European planemaker aims to carve out new routes for airlines with smaller planes and steal a march on rival Boeing’s plans for a possible new mid-market jet.

Airbus said the new A321XLR would have a long range of up to 4,700 nautical miles (NM), 15% more than the previous A321LR model.

Air Lease Corp also announced a 100-plane Airbus order, which included 27 of the Airbus A321XLR jets.