Global InformationAirbus A330 information
| A330 | |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| An Airbus A330-300, the first and most common variant, of Turkish Airlines | |
| Role | Wide-body airliner |
| National origin | Multi-national[a] |
| Manufacturer | Airbus |
| First flight | 2 November 1992 |
| Introduction | 17 January 1994 with Air Inter |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | Delta Air Lines Turkish Airlines China Eastern Airlines Cathay Pacific |
| Produced | 1992–present |
| Number built | 1,598 as of March 2024[update][1] |
| Developed from | Airbus A300 |
| Variants |
|
| Developed into | Airbus A330neo |
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner from the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 quadjet and launched both designs with their first orders in June 1987. The A330-300, the first variant, took its maiden flight in November 1992 and entered service with Air Inter in January 1994. The slightly shorter A330-200 variant followed in 1998.
The A330 shares many underpinnings with the airframe of the early A340 variants, most notably the same fuselage and wing components, and by extension the same structure. However, the A330 has two main landing gear legs instead of three, lower weights, and slightly different lengths. Both airliners have fly-by-wire controls as well as a similar glass cockpit to increase the commonality. The A330 was Airbus's first airliner to offer a choice of three engines: the General Electric CF6, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, or the Rolls-Royce Trent 700. The A330-300 has a range of 11,750 km (6,340 nmi; 7,300 mi) with 277 passengers, while the shorter A330-200 can cover 13,450 km (7,260 nmi; 8,360 mi) with 247 passengers. Other variants include the A330-200F dedicated freighter, the A330 MRTT military tanker, and the ACJ330 corporate jet. The A330 MRTT was proposed as the EADS/Northrop Grumman KC-45 for the US Air Force's KC-X competition, but lost to the Boeing KC-46 in appeal after an initial win.
In July 2014, Airbus announced the re-engined A330neo (new engine option) comprising A330-800/900, which entered service with TAP Air Portugal in December 2018. With the exclusive, more efficient Trent 7000 turbofan and improvements including sharklets, it offers up to 14% better fuel economy per seat. Earlier A330s (-200/200F/300) are now called A330ceo (current engine option).
Delta Air Lines is currently the largest operator with 69 airplanes in its fleet. As of March 2024[update], A330 orders stood at 1,774 of which 1,598 had been delivered and 1,482 were in service with 148 operators. The global A330 fleet had accumulated more than 65 million flight hours since its entry into service. The A330 is the second most delivered wide-body airliner after the Boeing 777. It competes with the Boeing 767, smaller variants of the Boeing 777, and the 787. It is complemented by the larger Airbus A350, which succeeded the four-engined A340.
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- ^ "Airbus orders and deliveries" (XLS). Airbus S.A.S. 31 March 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.