Airbus A330

History of the Airbus A330

The passenger aircraft market is a lucrative business that typically includes two industry giants - Boeing and Airbus. Airbus' first entry became their successful A300 product line, which eventually spawned offshoots of the A320, A330 and A340 models. The A330 joined Airbus in the 1990s as a wide-body twin-engine passenger/freighter, and was officially launched on 17 January 1994 with launch customer Air Inter.

Since then, the model has received orders for more than 1,350 aircraft, of which more than 1,100 have been executed to date (2015). Production has been running since 1992 and now includes three main models - A330-200, A330-200F ("Cargo") and A330-300. The A330 succeeds the A320 and A340, bringing industry staples such as fly-by-wire (FBW) controls and a glass cockpit for two crew members.

The A330 first flew on November 2, 1992, and the product competes directly with rival Boeing's 767, 777 and 787 models.

The A330-200 will be offered in two primary seating configurations, a 293-seat 2nd class configuration and a 253-seat 3rd class configuration. The A330-200F is a seated freighter, like other freighters, with only 12 seats and interior space reserved for cargo. The A330-300 has a 335-seat 2nd-class layout and a 295-seat 3rd-class layout. The combined length of the A330-200 and A300-200F models is 193 feet, while the A330-300 increases to 209 feet. All have the same wingspan of 197.9 feet.

The aircraft will be equipped with three possible engines - 2 x 72,000lbf thrust General Electric CF6-80E1 turbofans, 2 x 70,000lbf thrust Pratt & Whitney PW4000 turbofans or 2 x 71,000lbf thrust Rolls Royce Trent 700 turbofan engine - to help increase the attractiveness of the product in the market. Performance specifications include a top speed of 915 km/h, a cruising speed of 870 km/h, a maximum range of 13,400 km and a service ceiling of 42,650 feet.

The range of the A330-200F model will be reduced to 6,000km, with the A330-300 to follow with a total range of 11,300km.

Aircraft operators of the Airbus A330 family range from Argentina and Algeria to Ukraine and Yemen. Its biggest backer remains Air China, with nearly fifty examples on its roster.

The A330 family also forms the A330 MRTT ("Multi-Role Tanker Transport"), a combined airframe used by several militaries for aerial refueling missions as well as general transport operations. The A330 also served as the basis for the now abandoned Airbus submission to the USAF Tanker Program ("KC-X") - as the "KC-45" (described in detail elsewhere on this website).

Launched in the U.S. as part of a joint venture between Northrop Grumman and EADS, the product was initially selected for launch. After a protesting selection process, the submission lost to the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus (described in detail elsewhere on this page).

The A300-600St "Beluga" oversized component processor will receive replacements from the existing A330 airframe.

Like any other passenger airline, the A330 family has had accidents and fatalities. At least 19 major incidents involving the clan have been recorded, resulting in a total of 339 deaths.

The A330neo is being developed as a successor to the standard A330 offering (and will compete directly with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family). The brand exclusively features Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines (2x), a larger wingspan, winglets for increased efficiency and other improvements.

The first flight is expected in mid-2016, with a formal model demonstration planned for the second half of 2017.

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