Country of origin:

International

Description:

Long-range commercial airliner

Power Plant:

Two 67,500 lbst CF6-80E1A4 General Electric CF6-80C2 turbofans

Specifications:

History:

On 27 January 1986 Airbus authorised the final definition of two new projects known as TA-9 and TA-11, these later becoming respectively the A330 and A340 long-range airliners. The A330 was described as a 310 seat medium/long-haul aircraft to fly 9,300 km (5,780 miles). The projects came to be seen as variants of a single type, basically sharing the same length fuselage but with necessary wing differences to suit the two or four-engine layout.

On 5 May 1987 the A330 and A340 were launched with “purchase commitments” for 130 aircraft from ten airlines. British Aerospace designed the wing, building it at its Filton facility in Gloucesteshire, using the same basic wing for both aircraft. This wing had a lift/drag ratio improvement of some 30 per cent compared with the older designs such as the Boeing 747, McDonnell Douglas DC-10, and Lockheed TriStar. The A330 was not designed to compete against the long-range version of the Boeing 777, this role being left to the A340. In June 1991 Airbus announced that, as a result of structural tests, the A330’s original planned max take-off weight would be increased by 18,000 kg (39,682 lb), increasing its full-passenger range by 1,500 km (932 miles).

Both the A330 and A340 emerged from the same final assembly line at Aerospatiale’s facility at Toulouse Blagnac airfield in southern France. Engines available initially for the A330 were the General Electric CF6 unit of 67,500 lbst, the Pratt & Whitney PW4000, and later the Rolls Royce Trent. First example of the series to enter service was the A330-300 in March 1993, this having a maximum take off-weight of 257,000 kg (566,578 lb), seating for 295 passengers in three classes, with a range of 12,395 km (7,702 miles). In 1996 a new version of the A330-300 appeared with a strengthened wing structure, increasing max take-off weight to 275,000 kg (606,261 lb) and range with 232 passengers to 14,800 km (9,966 miles).

The next model was the smaller longer range A330-200 series, this having 253 seats and a range of 12,025 km (7,472 miles). This had the fuselage shortened by ten fuselage frames 5.3 m (17 ft 4 in), giving it an overall length of 58.99 m (193 ft 5 in). The fuselage cross-section of the A330 enabled two LD-3 size containers to be accommodated side-by-side in the lower-deck cargo hold. The A330-200 could accommodate 14 LD-3s in its forward hold and 12 aft; plus an additional 23.8 m (78 ft) of cargo in its aft bulk hold. One change for the shorter fuselage model was an enlarged tail. The A330-200 offered the General Electric CF6-80E1A4, Pratt & Whitney PW4168, and Rolls Royce Trent 772 engines, these providing power in the 68,800 lb to 71,000 lb range.

The A330-200’s strengthened wing was dimensionally the same as the previous wing but had thicker skin gauges, whilst some ribs were strengthened. The first PW4168 powered model (airframe 195) flew in December 1997, the first Trent powered aircraft flying in July 1998. The A330 series proved very popular and production continued.

On 29 November 2000 Qantas announced it had ordered 13 examples of the A330, comprising seven A330-200s and six A330-300s for delivery between 2002 and 2005. A Qantas spokesman stated these models had been selected because of the flexibility to meet changing requirements in the domestic and international market.

The first of these aircraft (Model A330-202s) became VH-EBA (c/n 508 – ex F-WWKM) ‘Cradle Mountain’ in December 2002, followed by VH-EBB (c/n 522 – ex F-WWYQ) ‘Freycinet Peninsula’, later ‘Albany’; VH-EBC (c/n 506 – ex F-WWYU) ‘Gold Coast Tweed’, later ‘Surfers Paradise’; VH-EBD (c/n 513 – ex F-WWYV) ‘Traralgon’; VH-EBE (c/n 0842 – ex F-WWYV) ‘Kangaroo Valley’; VH-EBF (c/n 0853 – ex F-WWYU) ‘King Valley’; and VH-EBG (c/n 0887 – ex F-WWKD) ‘Barossa Valley’.

In mid 2006 Qantas announced it was ordering a further two A330-200s for delivery in 2008, making a total of eight A330-201s and ten A330-301s. In October 2006 Qantas commenced placing its A330-201s in service with its subsidiary, Jetstar International, and ordered a further four A330-200s to mitigate against concerns relating to capacity following delays in delivery of the A380, the first of these to be delivered in December 2007.

The type was placed in service by Jetstar when the first proving flight was made from Melbourne, VIC to Denpasar, Bali, on 9 November 2006. The first inaugural service took place on 23 November when VH-EBB flew Melbourne to Bangkok in Thailand, and on 24 November VH-EBD operated from Sydney, NSW to Phuket in Thailand.

In June 2009 an A330-223 was registered as VH-SSA (c/n 324) to a new operator, Strategic Airlines of Central Park, VIC, this aircraft being leased from Swiss International Airlines, the aircraft replacing another A330 which was wet leased from Portuguese carrier Hi-Fly and which was used for charters to the Australian Defence forces. In February 2011 Virgin Blue (as it was then known) took delivery of the first two of its A330-243s, becoming VH-XFA (c/n 0365 – ex A6-EAB, F-WWKB), VH-XFB (c/n 0372 – ex A6-EAC, F-WWKQ) named ‘Cable Beach’, followed by VH-XFD (c/n 1306 – ex F-WWYY) ‘Bells Beach’.

In July 2015 the Australian Government announced it was obtaining two Model 330-200s from Qantas as part of an upgrade to the Williamtown RAAF base, NSW, stating the two aircraft would be converted to KC-30A airborne refuelling configuration, bringing the fleet of the type for the Air Force to a total of seven aircraft.

In mid 2023 Qantas announced it was retiring its fleet of A330s and replacing them with a fleet of A350s and Boeing 787s.