1 A330neo was put through its paces during a four hour and 13 minute airborne evaluation. 19% of A330 operators are already 787 customers though some A330 operators have been dual sourcing from both Boeing and Airbus. Teal Group's Richard Aboulafia believes that the A330neo should dominate the lower range and lower capacity end of the twin aisle market because the 787-8 has the high operating economics and unit price associated with its 8,000-nm range. The inaugural flight of the jet is the first of a test stage that should last about 300 hours of flight. The aircraft, MSN1795, is a A330-900 and the first of three certification flight-test aircraft to fly. 1,100 flight hours have been allotted for the A330-900 campaign, while an additional 300 hours have been scheduled for the A330-800 campaign. [34], A330 production was cut to 50 deliveries in 2019, with more than half of them re-engined A330neos. As the Boeing 747 chapter ends in the United States, Airbus have a successful first flight of their new long haul airliner, the A330neo (new engine option), in Toulouse, France. [70], The Trent is the exclusive powerplant, as Rolls-Royce offered better terms to obtain exclusivity. It would improve the fuel burn per seat by 14%. The 251 t MTOW was confirmed by Airbus in November 2017. [28] [11], In March 2014, Delta Air Lines expressed an interest in the A330neo to replace its aging, 20+-year-old Boeing 767-300ER jets. New winglets, 3.7 metres wider and similar to those of the A350 XWB, still within ICAO category E airport requirements, along with new engine pylons, would improve aerodynamics by 4%. The wing twist and belly fairings are tweaked to approach the lowest drag elliptical span-wise pressure distribution changed by the larger sharklets, like the flap track fairings shape to lower form drag. And a two cabin configuration. The A330neo wing also includes new sharklets similar to those on the A350. Join more than 500,000 others who receive weekly aviation industry and flight tracking news from Flightradar24 direct to their inbox. On Thursday 19 October 2017, the Airbus A330neo took off for the very first time. [72] At this time, production aircraft progressed through the final assembly line with the first 'Airspace' cabin interior being fitted. In February 2018, Hawaiian was thought to be cancelling its order for six A330-800s, replacing them with Boeing 787-9s priced at less than $100–115m, close to their production cost of $80–90m, while Boeing Capital released Hawaiian from three 767-300ER leases well in advance. [68], Candidate engines included variants of Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000 and General Electric's GEnx-1B. Beyond-180min ETOPS was approved by the EASA by 24 January 2019. [98] With the exception of Delta, industry-leading airlines preferred the Boeing 787. [80], Production of the -800 beyond the prototype was in doubt, as Hawaiian was choosing between the Airbus A350-900 and the Boeing 787-8/9. Airbus believed A330 operators would start fleet renewal beginning in 2020. The first "real", fare-paying, passengers that will be able to enjoy the improvements of the A330neo are going to be TAP's, as the Portuguese airline is going to be the launch customer for the type. Aircraft unblocking, Glossary The first of three A330neo Family development aircraft to fly – MSN1795, an A330-900 variant – has landed at Toulouse-Blagnac, France at 14:10 hrs local time after successfully completing its first flight which lasted 4 hours and 13 minutes. [18] Airbus said that it could pursue demand for 4,000 aircraft and that there was an open market for 2,600 jets not already addressed by backlogs with operators already using A330s. [7] New engines like the GEnx or Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 developed for the 787 could offer a 12%–15% fuel burn improvement, and sharklets at least 2%. Here are some pictures of the A330neo first flight. The Trent 1000 TEN (Thrust, Efficiency, New Technology) engine is under development for the 787-10, but Rolls-Royce intends to offer a broad power range. This first aircraft, MSN1795, was scheduled to perform 600 h and was to be joined the following month by the second, MSN1813, which will fly 500 h, before the third, MSN1819, the first customer aircraft for TAP Portugal with a complete cabin. [82] The first aircraft, configured with 226 seats including 23 in business class, was to be delivered to Kuwait Airways in March 2020; the airline postponed delivery until the third quarter of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The heavier structure allows a transpacific range, and is balanced by a weight-reduction effort, keeping the same empty weight and payload. 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