AIRCRAFT
The Airbus A330-200 is a long range, shortened development of the standard A330-300 (described separately) developed in part as a replacement for the A300-600R and as a competitor to the Boeing 767-300ER.
Airbus launched development of the A330-200 in November 1995. The first customer order, for 13 from ILFC, was placed in February 1996. First flight was on August 13 1997, with certification and first customer deliveries, to ILFC, in April 1998.
Final assembly of the A330 is undertaken alongside the A340 by EADS Aérospatiale in Toulouse, France.
The A330-200 is based on the A330-300 and shares near identical systems, airframe, flightdeck and wings, the only major difference being the fuselage length. Compared with the 300 the A330-200 is 10 frames shorter, and has an overall length of 59.00m (193ft 7in), compared with 63.70m (209ft 0in) for the standard length aircraft. This allows the A330-200 to seat 256 passengers in a three class configuration, or alternatively 293 in two classes.
Because of its decreased length, the A330-200 features enlarged horizontal and vertical tail services to compensate for the loss of moment arm with the shorter fuselage. Another important change is the addition of a center fuel tank, which increases the A330-200's fuel capacity compared to the -300's, and results in the -200's 12,500km (6,750nm) range.
Like the A330-300, engine options are the General Electric CF6-80, Pratt & Whitney 4000 series and the Rolls-Royce Trent 700, and all engines are ETOPS-rated for 180 minutes. Both versions of the A330 have the same MTOW of 233 tonnes.
The A330-200 is similar to the A340-200 apart from the engine difference, it has two instead of four. With poor sales of the A340-200 (of which only 28 were built), Airbus decided to use its fuselage 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.
The A330-200 has sold quite strongly since its launch. Among the initial A330-200 customers were, in addition to ILFC: Canada 3000, Korean Air, Austrian, Air Transat, Emirates, Swissair, Sabena, Monarch, Asiana, TAM, and Air Lanka. In 2004, the airplane outsold the Boeing equivalent 767-400ER by 23 to 9. As a result, Boeing asked both Rolls-Royce and GE to design engines that would enable the 787 Dreamliner to be 15% more economical than the A330-200.
In the future the direct Boeing equivalent will be the 787-9, and the A330-200 will be replaced in the Airbus lineup by the A350-800 XWB.Due to flagging A300-600F and A310F sales and the end of production in 2007, Airbus is offering a freighter derivative, the A330-200F. This made its public debut at the 2006 Farnborough Air Show.
The A330 MRTT Multi Role Tanker Transport version of the A330-200 provides aerial refueling and strategic transport. In January 2004 the UK Ministry of Defence announced that the A330 MRTT had been selected to provide air-refueling for the RAF for the next 30 years under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft program. In this and the Australian contest, announced April 16, 2004, the A330 beat competition from the Boeing 767 AAR derivative. The Royal Australian Air Force has placed an order for 5 A330 MRTT aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of 707s.
A derivative of the A330, similar to the MRTT, is also in the running to land a contract from the United States Air Force for perhaps up to 600 tankers to replace the aging KC-135 and KC-10 fleets. EADS is teamed with Northrop Grumman for the bid. If the contract is won, it will require EADS to invest approximately US$600 million in an assembly plant in the United States.
Boeing 767 derived tankers (the Boeing KC-767) were originally selected by the USAF. However, in December 2003 the US Defense Department announced the project was to be frozen while allegations of corruption by one if its former procurement staffers, Darleen Druyun (who had moved to Boeing in January 2003) were investigated. The fallout of this situation resulted in the resignation of Boeing CEO Philip M. Condit and the termination of CFO Michael M. Sears.
In early 2006 the United States Congress passed a defense bill that reversed an earlier amendment which barred Airbus from bidding for the contract.
To support the possible USAF contract, Airbus has announced that it will create an engineering and manufacturing site at Mobile, Alabama.
In December 2006, the USAF released an updated draft request for proposals (RFP) to Airbus and Boeing. Release of the final RFP is expected in January, and the Air Force is hoping to complete the selection process by the end of the current federal fiscal year, i.e., by September 30, 2007.
As of November 2006, total deliveries of the A330-200 stood at 240. Of these, 238 were still in service.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 1996-2007 Pyramid Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Online | Magazines | Newsletters | Business & Prof | Books & eBooks
Advertising | Marketing | Content | Info Services | Links
Subscriptions | Order Center | Contact Us | Home
Copyright © 1996-2007 Pyramid Media Group | Liability | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service