Airbus A330neo
The Airbus A330neo is a wide-body jet airliner developed by Airbus from the Airbus A330. A new version with modern engines comparable to those developed for the Boeing 787 was called for by operators of the original A330 series. It was launched on 14 July 2014 at the Farnborough Airshow, promising 14% better fuel economy per seat. It exclusively uses the larger Rolls-Royce Trent 7000.
Its two versions are based on the A330-200 and -300: the -800 has a range of with 257 passengers while the -900 covers with 287 passengers. The -900 made its maiden flight on 19 October 2017 and received its EASA type certificate on 26 September 2018. It was first delivered to TAP Air Portugal on 26 November and had its maiden commercial flight on 15 December. The -800 made its first flight on 6 November 2018 and received EASA type certification on 13 February 2020.
Development
Studies
At the Boeing 787 launch in 2004, Airbus' response was at first an improved A330, but after negative feedback from airlines and lessors, the A350 XWB became a new design in 2006. After the A320neo launch in December 2010 and its commercial success, Air Asia's boss Tony Fernandes said he would like Airbus to re-engine the A330. 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%.Airbus sales chief John Leahy's argument was that the lower purchase price of an A330 even without new engines make the economics of buying an A330 competitive at midrange routes with that of the Boeing 787. An A330neo would accelerate the demise of the similarly-sized A350-800. Airbus also considered re-engining the A380 but was wary of having two major modification programs simultaneously.
In March 2014, Delta Air Lines expressed an interest in the A330neo to replace its aging, 20+-year-old Boeing 767-300ER jets. In the 250-300-seat market, CIT Group believes an A330neo enables profitability on shorter ranges where the longer-range A350 and Boeing 787 aren't optimized. Steve Mason, CIT vice president for aircraft analysis, said: "The A350-800 is not as efficient as they'd like". Steven Udvar-Hazy, chairman and CEO of Air Lease Corp., said, "We don't believe it is rational for us to take the A350-800 and the A330neo I don't see the A350-800 surviving if they do the A330neo".
AirAsia X ended flights to London and Paris from Kuala Lumpur in 2012 because their Airbus A340s weren't fuel-efficient enough; AirAsiaX will try again with A330s. As Airbus gradually increases output of the new A350, prolonging the production run of the A330 could help to maintain profitability. As Emirates cancelled 70 orders for the A350, Airbus said it continued to work on re-engining the smaller A330.
Launch
On 14 July 2014 at the Farnborough Airshow, Airbus launched the A330neo programme, to be powered by the new Rolls-Royce Trent 7000. It would improve the fuel burn per seat by 14%. Airbus hoped to sell 1,000 A330neo aircraft. Its range would increase by and although 95% of the parts would be common with the A330ceo, maintenance costs would be lower. 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%.Its development costs were expected to have an impact of around −0.7% on Airbus's return on sales target from 2015 to 2017, an estimated $2 billion. Airbus stated that lower capital cost would make the A330neo the most cost-efficient medium-range wide-body aircraft in the market. 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. Aerodynamic modifications would include a re-twisted wing and optimised slats.
In 2014, The Airline Monitor's Ed Greenslet stated that the A330neo would have the advantage of not being designed to fly 8,000 nmi, unlike the A350 and Boeing 787 which were thus less economical on shorter routes, although "the vast majority of long-haul markets is 4,000 nmi or less".
He also believed that an "A330neo would enjoy a monopoly in its segment instantly", with the Boeing 767 "essentially out of production", the Boeing 757 not replaced while the A321neo and the 737-9 are smaller and had less range, and that launching the A330neo would probably kill the smallest A350-800.
John Leahy estimated that the A330-900 would have operating costs on par with the 787-9, but would be available at 25% lower capital costs and could reach a production rate of 10 per month after a 7/8 per month rate at the production start. Both A330neo variants were expected to have a maximum take-off weight of 242 t. The type design was frozen in late 2015.
Boeing Vice Chairman and Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner dismissed the A330neo as a 2004 revamp which cannot match the 787's direct operating costs, being heavier and having a wing only slightly improved from the 1980s design, and claimed the 787-10 was almost 30% more efficient per-seat than the previous A330-300 and that a new engine would not close the gap – but he acknowledged that it could be a threat as it put pressure on Boeing as it sought to break even after 850–1,000 787 deliveries.
Production
On 7 September 2015, Airbus announced that it had begun production of the first A330neo with the construction of its centre wingbox and engine pylon. Final assembly of the first aircraft, an A330-900, started in September 2016 at the Toulouse Line with the station 40 centre fuselage and wings join. In December 2016, the program schedule slipped by six weeks due to marginal engine development at Rolls-Royce, and launch customer TAP Air Portugal projected its first A330neo would be delivered in March 2018.The first aircraft left the paint shop in December 2016, awaiting its engines. Its first flight was delayed until September 2017 after the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000s were installed during the summer.
After this delay, TAP Air Portugal was expected to receive the first A330neo at the end of the first half of 2018, or even in the third quarter.
The engines were shipped to Airbus in June. The aircraft complete with engines showed at Toulouse in September before its first flight.
Major structures of the first A330-800 were entering production in October 2017: high-lift devices are installed on the wing in Bremen, fuselage sections are built in Hamburg, the centre wing-box in Nantes, titanium engine pylons in Toulouse and sharklet wingtips in Korea. Its final assembly started in November 2017, on track for its planned first flight in mid-2018.
Structural assembly was completed by February 2018, having its flight-test instruments installed and waiting for its engines before its 300h flight-test programme.
At this time, production aircraft progressed through the final assembly line with the first 'Airspace' cabin interior being fitted.
A330 production will be cut to 50 deliveries in 2019, with more than half of them re-engined A330neos.
Flight testing
The A330-900 first flight on 19 October 2017 debuts the 1,400 hours flight test campaign involving three prototypes plus the first production aircraft: 1,100 flight hours for the A330-900 and 300 flight hours for A330-800, targeting mid-2018 EASA and FAA Type Certification. The 4h 15m flight reached and. It should establish certain maximum operating points and achieve an initial handling qualities assessment including at high angle of attack. 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.Two flight-test engineers and two engine specialists monitored the 60GB per hour output of 1,375 sensors and 98,000 parameters, including strips of microelectromechanical systems to measure aerodynamic pressure distribution across the wing. MSN1795 was to undertake simulated icing tests and cold-weather tests in Canada, noise assessment, autoland testing and high angle-of-attack, minimum-unstick checks during rotation with a tail bumper. MSN1813 was to test natural icing, assess hot and high conditions in the United Arab Emirates and La Paz and fly 150h of route-proving; it has rakes and pressure sensors in the engine flows to compare actual thrust with ground bench measurements. MSN1819 was to validate the Airspace cabin interior fitting with artificial passengers for ventilation analysis and cabin environment measurements.
The second test aircraft made its maiden flight on 4 December, to be used to validate aerodynamic & engine performance and airline operations.
By the end of January 2018, the first logged almost 200h in 58 flights while the second had accumulated nearly 120h in 30 flights.
Its flight envelope was fully opened including flutter and stall tests to complete powerplant calibration and strake configuration has been frozen.
Airbus commenced autopilot, autoland and high-speed performance testing, and was to move on to hot- and cold-weather tests, as well as noise and icing tests, over the following three months.
As of 10 April 2018, the two test aircraft had logged over 200 flights and more than 700 hours, testing −27 °C cold weather, natural icing, crosswind landing, 37 °C and hot and high operations.
The first TAP Air Portugal aircraft made its first flight on 15 May 2018; it joined the two previous test aircraft to check the cabin systems: air conditioning, crew rest, etc.
It started the final certification step on 18 June: function and reliability tests or route proving, including ETOPS, diversion airport landing and testing ground handling over 150 flight test hours, as the flight test programme reached 1,000 hours.
Entry into service was planned for the third quarter of 2018 and ETOPS was to be approved in October for 330min.
EASA granted the A330-941 type certificate on 26 September 2018, with ETOPS not yet approved. ETOPS 180 min was approved on 14 November, restricted to engines with fewer than 500 flight cycles.
Airbus expects the FAA type certification with 180 min ETOPS by the end of 2018 and 330 min ETOPS in the first half of 2019.
Beyond-180min ETOPS was approved by the EASA by 24 January 2019.
The maiden flight of the -800 took place on 6 November 2018; the 4h 4min flight inaugurated a 350h test program aiming for mid-2019 type certification, for delivery in the first half of 2020 to launch operator Kuwait Airways.
By late March 2019, it was halfway through the 300 hours flight-test programme, having completed 44 flights in 149 hours. The -800 received EASA type certification with 180-minute ETOPS on 13 February 2020; ETOPS clearance beyond 180 minutes was awarded on 2 April.
Introduction
Leased from Avolon, the first A330-900 was delivered to TAP Air Portugal on 26 November 2018, featuring 298 seats: 34 full-flat business, 96 economy plus and 168 economy seats, and to be deployed from Portugal to the Americas and Africa.TAP made its first commercial flight on 15 December from Lisbon to São Paulo. The airline should receive 15 more A330neos in 2019 and fly the A330-900 from Lisbon to Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles from June 2019, both five times a week.
Increased takeoff weight
On the occasion of the 19 October 2017 first flight, an increase to MTOW by mid-2020 was announced, with a few changes to the landing gear and brakes, increasing its range by compared to the current A330neo or A330ceo.The 251t MTOW was confirmed by Airbus in November 2017.
This gave the -900 a range of and for the -800.
Test flights of the 251t A330-900 started from 28 February 2020, to be delivered later to AirAsia X.
Airbus expects a short 30-40h test campaign, as multiple tests were conducted with the previous variant adapted to higher weight, including flight performance and noise assessment.
The heavier structure allows a transpacific range, and is balanced by a weight-reduction effort, keeping the same empty weight and payload.
Design
The larger 112-inch Trent 7000 is 11% more efficient than the 97.5-inch Trent 700 engine, a 2% loss is due to increased weight and 1% due to additional drag from the larger engine, but the sharklets and aero optimization regains 4% for a 12% fuel advantage per trip. Furthermore, fuel consumption per seat is improved by 2% due to the rearranged cabin with increased seating, offering a 14% fuel burn reduction per seat for the new −900neo compared to the previous 235-tonne −300 version. The newer 242-tonne −300 is already 2% more efficient.Airbus unveiled a distinctive cockpit windscreen to be featured on the A330neo, similar to that on the A350, and promised a new interior concept offering a better passenger experience on the A330neo. Initially based on the largest 242t MTOW A330, Airbus is studying an improvement to MTOW for the A330neo, which would match the figure originally given for the Airbus A350-800 before it was sidelined in favor of the A330neo. This would give the -900 a range to better compete with the 787-9’s
Since the fan is enlarged from, the nacelles are mounted higher, necessitating extensive CFD analysis to avoid supersonic shock wave interference drag, as is the first slat's dog-tooth. 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.
On the -800 at FL400, cruise fuel flow at Mach 0.82 and low weight is per hour at a higher weight and Mach 0.83.
Engines
Candidate engines included variants of Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000 and General Electric's GEnx-1B. Both engine makers were reportedly interested in winning an exclusive deal should a re-engined A330 be offered. The Trent 1000 TEN engine is under development for the 787-10, but Rolls-Royce intends to offer a broad power range.The A330neo will use the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engine, which is an electronic controlled bleed air variant of the Trent 1000 used on the Boeing 787-10. It will have a diameter fan and a 10:1 bypass ratio. They will deliver a thrust of.
The Trent is the exclusive powerplant, as Rolls-Royce offered better terms to obtain exclusivity. Customers bemoan the loss of competition among engine makers: Steven Udvar-Hazy, CEO of Air Lease Corporation, said that he wants a choice of engines, but Airbus has pointed out that equipping a commercial aircraft to handle more than one type of engine adds several hundred million dollars to the development cost. The head of Pratt and Whitney said: "Engines are no longer commodities...the optimization of the engine and the aircraft becomes more relevant."
The decision to offer the aircraft with only one engine option is not unique to Airbus; the Boeing 777X will come equipped exclusively with General Electric GE9X engines, after Rolls Royce made a bid with its Advance configuration but was not selected.
Variants
-900
The A330-900 retains the fuselage length of the A330-300. Cabin optimisation allows ten additional seats on the A330-900 with 18-inch-wide economy seats. The -900 should travel 6550 nmi with 287 passengers.Delta expects a 20 percent reduction in operating cost per seat over the Boeing 767-300ER aircraft it replaces.
Further reconfiguration of cabin facilities enables the –900 to seat up to 460 passengers in an all-economy layout. This exceeds the existing 440-seat maximum exit limit allowed by the type certificate, and requires a modification of the Type-A exit doors to meet emergency exit requirements.
In November 2019, maximum accommodation increased to 460 seats, through the installation of new 'Type-A+' exits, with a dual-lane evacuation slide.
-800
The A330-800 retains the fuselage length of the A330-200, but can seat six more passengers with an optimised cabin featuring 18-inch-wide economy seats. The -800 should have a range of 7500 nmi with 257 passengers.As the variants share 99% commonality, developing the smaller -800 has a negligible extra cost.
After the first flight of the -900 on 19 October 2017, Hawaiian Airlines considered changing its order for six -800s,
seeking to best fit its current network to Asia and North America whilst allowing for future growth, possibly to Europe.
Demand for the -800 demand fell to 3%, whereas the -200 commanded 40% of the ceo deliveries: its range advantage has eroded with the increased capabilities of the -900, and although it offers lower fuel per trip, fuel per seat is higher.
Demand for the -800 is limited by low fuel prices and the fact that the -200s it might replace after 2020 are still young. The Boeing 767-300/400s that the -800 might replace are 15 years older, and while Boeing considered relaunching production of the 767-300ER, mainly as an interim for American and United airlines, this was complicated by a 30-year-old design including obsolete cabin amenities.
Before the introduction of the Boeing NMA, expected no earlier than 2027, the 95 A330 operators offer opportunities, and long-haul low-cost carriers could be interested in high density nine-abreast layouts for 386 seats over at the MTOW, more than a similarly loaded 787-8 and with up to 30 more seats.
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.
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.
Hawaiian denied that the order for the A330-800 had been cancelled, but did not dismiss a new deal with Boeing.
In March 2018, Hawaiian confirmed the cancellation of its order for six A330-800s and ordered ten B787-9s instead.
Airbus says it was "simply undercut in price".
In July 2018 a new memorandum of understanding from Uganda National Airlines Company for two -800s revived interest in the shorter variant. A firm order from Kuwait Airways for eight A330-800s followed in October 2018; it was subsequently confirmed that Kuwait Airways would be the launch customer for the -800, with certification expected in mid-2019 and first deliveries in the first half of 2020.
On 8 April 2019, Uganda National Airlines Company firmed up its order for two -800s.
Compared to the competing 787-8 with similar engines, the A330-800 has a 1% fuel-per-trip disadvantage but consumes 4% less fuel per seat with 13 more seats in an eight-abreast configuration, and 8% less with 27 more seats at nine-abreast with wide seats and aisles: the -800 is longer by 4 rows or 2.5 m.
Airbus could limit its MTOW to and derate its engines to to optimise for the shorter routes to be targeted by the Boeing NMA, with the A321XLR tackling the lower end of the same niche.
The A330-800 received EASA type certification on 13 February 2020.
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 outbreak.
Freighter
and United Parcel Service pushed for a freighter version, stretching the A330-900 to carry more cargo over a shorter range, but retired 767s and A330s provide a lot of conversion potential.Development cost would be lower than for a new program as much of the engineering has already been done for the A330-200F, and more volume would be more appealing to express carriers.
Market
Third party analysis for a 3,350 nmi transatlantic flight show the 787-9 has a slight advantage over the A330-900neo in cash cost per available seat miles, while the Airbus outperforms the Boeing once capital costs are included, based on the A330-900neo cost an estimated $10.6m less.They have close economics but the A330neo costs up to $30m less, according to another publication.
An A330-900 is worth $115 million in 2018, while a new B787-9 valuation is $145 million, up from $135 million in 2014, but it may have been sold for $110–15 million to prevent A330neo sales.
Between the 2004 launch of the Dreamliner and the A330neo launch in 2014, the market was split almost equally between both, with between 900 and 920 A330ceos sold against 950 to 1,000 787-8/9s.
Between 2014 and the neo first flight in October 2017, the A330/A330neo had orders compared to 272 for the 787-8/9, or since the 787 launch, A330ceo/neos compared to 787-8/9s.
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.
Flightglobal Ascend Consultancy forecasts 600 deliveries including 10% of -800 variants, less optimistic than Airbus' 1,000.
At entry into service in 2018, sales were disappointing and A330 production was to be cut to 50 in 2019 down from 67 in 2017: while it is the widebody with the largest operator base with 1,390 deliveries since 1993, the fleet is still very young with only 46 aircraft retired. Airbus believed A330 operators would start fleet renewal beginning in 2020. With the exception of Delta, industry-leading airlines preferred the Boeing 787.
Between January 2014 and November 2019, the A330/A330neo had net orders compared to a total of for all three variants of the 787. The A330neo program was the best-selling Airbus widebody over the same period.
Airbus believes there is potential for the A330neo in the growing long-haul, low-cost carrier sector. While Airbus expected a market for over 1,000 A330neos, one pessimistic forecast reported in 2018 came in as low as 400 sales, in that the A330neo was late to the market and fuel prices had declined markedly over the years, reducing demand. 19% of A330 operators are already 787 customers though some A330 operators have been dual sourcing from both Boeing and Airbus. Leeham News, on the one hand considered the A330-800 does not really cover the upper end of New Midsize Airplane studied by Boeing for some years, on the other hand stated that the A330-800 provides Airbus a cost-effective entry to the upper end of the middle of the market. In May 2019, Airbus's chief commercial officer made clear the company has a “rock”, the A321neo, and a “hard place”, the A330-800, for any airframer intending to bring a new airplane into the middle of the market at a time when Boeing was mired in the 737 MAX crisis.
Compared to a 283-seat, 9-abreast 787-9, Airbus claims a 1% lower fuel burn for the -900: 3% higher due to the higher OEW, but 4% lower due to the wider wingspan, and 3% lower fuel burn per seat in a 287-seat, 8-abreast configuration, reaching 7% with a 303-seat, 9-abreast layout.