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The 'Airbus A330' is a large-capacity, wide-body, medium-to-long-range commercial passenger airliner. It was developed at the same time as the four-engined Airbus A340.

Contents

History

Variants

A330-200

A330-200F

A330-300

A330 MRTT

Specifications

A330 deliveries

Incidents

External links

References

Related content

History

Airbus intended the A330 to compete directly in the ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operation Performance Standards) market, specifically with the Boeing 767.
The A330's fuselage and wings are virtually identical to those of the smaller A340 variants, although it has different engines. The A330 basic fuselage design is inherited from the Airbus A300, as is the nose/cockpit section and the fly-by-wire system and flightdeck from the A320. Both the A330 and A340 are assembled on the same final assembly line at Toulouse-Blagnac, France.
By the end of July 2007, a total of 680 A330 had been ordered and 481 delivered.

Variants

There are two main variants of the A330. The A330-300 was launched in 1987 with introduction into service in 1993. The A330-200 was launched in 1995, introduced in 1998 and comes in passenger, freighter and tanker versions.

A330-200

The A330-200 was developed to compete with the Boeing 767-300ER. The A330-200 is similar to the A340-200 or a shortened version of the A330-300. With poor sales of the A340-200 (of which only 28 were built), Airbus decided to use the fuselage of the A340-200 with the wings and engines of the A330-300. This significantly improved the economics of the plane and made the model more popular than the four-engined variant.
Its vertical fin is taller than that of the A330-300 to restore its effectiveness due to the shorter moment arm of the shorter fuselage. It has additional fuel capacity and, like the A330-300, has a MTOW of 233 tonnes. Typical range with 253 passengers in a three-class configuration is 12,500 km (6,750 nautical miles).
Power is provided by two General Electric CF6-80E, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. All engines are ETOPS-180 min rated. First customer deliveries, to ILFC/Canada 3000, were in April 1998.
The A330-200 has sold strongly since its launch, outselling the Boeing 767 by 23 to 9 in 2004. As a result, Boeing has asked both Rolls Royce and GE to design engines that enable the 787 Dreamliner to be 15% more economical than the A330-200.
The direct Boeing equivalent is currently the 767-400ER and in the future will be the 787-9.

A330-200F

Due to flagging A300-600F and A310F sales, Airbus first began marketing a freighter derivative of the A330-200 around 2000-2001, although it was not launched at this time.^[1] The A330-200F re-emerged at the 2006 Farnborough Air Show and received its industrial go-ahead in January 2007. Entry into service is planned for the second half of 2009.
The A330-200F is a mid-size, long-haul all-cargo aircraft capable of carrying 64 tonnes over 4,000 nm / 7,400 km, or 69 tonnes up to 3,200 nm / 5,930 km. It introduces a new versatile main-deck cargo loading system that will be able to accommodate both pallets and containers. Several different arrangements will be possible on the main deck, taking up to 23 Side-by-Side (SBS) pallets, aimed at the high volume, high value commodities or Single Row (SR) loading of 16 pallets (96”x 96”x125” SR pallets) and/or nine AMA containers aimed at the general cargo higher density markets.
To overcome the standard A330's nose-down body angle on the ground, the A330F will make use of a revised nose landing gear layout. The same leg will be used, however it will be attached lower in the fuselage, requiring a distinctive blister fairing on the nose to accommodate the retracted nosegear.
Power is provided by two Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines.
Airbus has so far secured commitments for 45 aircraft from six customers (firm in brackets): Intrepid Aviation Group (20), Guggenheim Aviation Partners (6), Flyington Freighters (6), Avion Aircraft Trading (8), Etihad Airways (3) and MNG Airlines. Deliveries will begin in late 2009^[2].
Other widebody freighters include the B767-300F, DC-10F, MD-11F, and the larger B777F.

A330-300

The A330-300, which entered service in 1993, was developed as replacement for the A300. It is based on a stretched A300-600 fuselage but with new wings, stabilisers and new fly-by-wire software.
The A330-300 carries 295 passengers in a three-class cabin layout (335 in 2 class and 440 in single class) over a range of 10,500 km (5,650 nautical miles). It has a large cargo capacity, comparable to early Boeing 747s. Some airlines run overnight cargo-only flights after daytime passenger services.
It is powered by two General Electric CF6-80E, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, all of which are ETOPS-180 min rated. US Airways was the launch customer in the United States with nine A330-300s.
The direct Boeing equivalent is the Boeing 777-200.

A330 MRTT

Main articles: Airbus A330 MRTT

The Multi-Role Transport and Tanker version (MRTT) of the A330-200 provides aerial refueling and strategic transport. To date it has been selected by Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK. The 'KC-30', a derivative of the A330 similar to the MRTT, is in the running for the KC-X contract from the United States Air Force for 179 tankers to replace the aging KC-135 fleet. EADS is teamed with Northrop Grumman for the bid, competing against the KC-767.

Specifications

Aircraft dimensions	A330-200	A330-300
Overall length	58.8 m	63.6 m
Height (to top of horizontal tail)	17.40 m	16.85 m
Fuselage diameter	5.64 m
Maximum cabin width	5.28 m
Cabin length	45.0 m	50.35 m
Wingspan (geometric)	60.3 m
Wing area (reference)	361.6 m²
Wing sweep (25% chord)	30 degrees
Wheelbase	22.2 m	25.6 m
Wheel track	10.69 m
Basic operating data
Engines	two CF6-80E1 or PW4000 or RR Trent 700
Engine thrust range	303-320 kN
Typical passenger seating	253 (3-class) / 293 (2-class)	295 (3-class) / 335 (2-class)
Range (w/max. passengers)	6,749 nm (12,500 km)	5,669 nm (10,500 km)
Cruising Speed	Mach 0.82 (541 mph, 470 knots, 871 km/h at 35,000 ft cruise altitude)
Maximum Cruise Speed	Mach 0.86 (568 mph, 493 knots, 913 km/h at 35,000 ft cruise altitude)
Takeoff run at MTOW	2,220 metres/7300ft	2,500 metres
Bulk hold volume (Standard/option)	19.7 / 13.76 m³
Design weights
Maximum ramp weight	230.9 (233.9 ) t
Maximum takeoff weight	230 (233) t
Maximum landing weight	180 (182) t	185 (187) t
Maximum zero fuel weight	168 (170) t	173 (175) t
Maximum fuel capacity	139,100 l	97,170 l
Typical operating weight empty	119.6 t	122.2 (124.5) t
Typical volumetric payload	36.4 t	45.9 t

A330 deliveries

2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995	1994	1993	1992	1991
39	62	56	47	31	42	35	43	44	23	14	10	30	9	1	0	0

Incidents

(As of 2005)

★ Hull-loss Accidents: 1 with a total of 7 fatalities

★
★ On 30 June 1994, an A330 on a test flight crashed shortly after take-off from Toulouse, killing all onboard

★ Other occurrences: 3 with a total of 0 fatalities

★
★ On 24 July 2001, 2 SriLankan Airlines A330-243s were destroyed on the ground by Tamil Tiger guerillas at Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport, Sri Lanka, along with an Airbus A320-200, an Airbus A340-300 and a squadron of military aircraft. Another two planes, an A320 and an A340 were also damaged but have since been repaired.^[3]

★
★ On 24 August 2001, Air Transat, Flight 236, an A330-243, performed the world's longest recorded glide with a jet airliner after suffering fuel exhaustion over the Atlantic Ocean. Human error and lack of automated computer checks stopped the crew from realizing the cause of fuel imbalance was leakage via a broken fuel pipe caused by poor maintenance. The plane flew powerless for half an hour and covered 65 nautical miles (120 km) to an emergency landing in the Azores (Portugal). No one was hurt, but the aircraft suffered some structural damage and blown tires. The airplane, registration C-GITS, is still flown by Air Transat today.

★
★ On 18 July 2003, B-HYA, a Dragonair A330-342 encountered severe turbulence associated with Tropical Depression Koni over the South China Sea, during the flight KA060 from Kota Kinabalu to Hong Kong. 12 crew members and 3 passengers were injured, of which 2 crew members sustained serious injuries, but there were no fatalities. The aircraft landed safely at Hong Kong International Airport. Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department B-HYA Accident Investigation report

★ Hijackings: 2 with a total of 1 fatality.

External links

★ Details on the Airbus A330/A340 family of aircraft

★ Airbus A330 Production List

References

1. "Airbus aims to fill freighter void with A330 derivative." ''Flight International''. March 14, 2006.
2. Flight International, 23-29 January 2007
3. ASN Aircraft accident description Airbus A.330-243 4R-ALF - Colombo-Bandaranayake Internation Airport

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