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A330-800neo performs first flight
November 9th 2018
Airbus’ decision to launch the A330-800neo, despite an obvious lack of customer interest, remains a curious move. Read More » The -800’s maiden journey lasted four hours and four minutes.
Tuesday’s flight kicked off a 350-hour test programme planned to culminate in type certification, hopefully by mid-2019. “It flies just like an A330, only better,” test pilot Ridley told media after the flight.
Launched in July 2014, the A330neo Family is the new-generation A330: the A330-800 earmarked as an A330-200 replacement and the A330-900 designed to supersede the A330-300.
It will be powered by Rolls-Royce’s latest-generation Trent 7000 engines, but Airbus said last week that the type’s output would be slower than expected because of industrial delays at Rolls-Royce.
State-controlled Kuwait Airways last month signed a preliminary agreement for eight A330-800neos, making it the first customer for the smallest A330neo variant. Uganda Airways signed a Memorandum of Understanding for two A330-800neos in July, bringing combined orders for the A330-800 to 10.
The Kuwait Airways A330-800neo announcement was good news for Airbus, but it came at a cost when the Gulf carrier reduced its order for 10 A350-900s to five.
At press time, Airbus had logged 224 firm orders for the A330neo with most customers opting for the larger -900neo. Asiana Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines cancelled their A330-800neo orders earlier this year. Losing the Hawaiian order was particularly embarrassing for Airbus, given the airline agreed to buy B787-9s instead.
