AIRCRAFT
The Airbus A330 is a large-capacity, wide-body, medium-to-long-range commercial passenger airliner. Airbus intended the A330 to compete directly in the ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operation Performance Standards) market, specifically with the Boeing 767.After studying a number of possible stretched versions and other derivatives of the basic A300 wide-body twinjet, Airbus Industrie had by the mid-1980s narrowed the choice to two. At the project stage, these were identified as the TA9, a medium-range large-capacity twin, and the TA11, a four-engine long-range variant of the same design. As the TA designations indicated, these were twin-aisle designs, based on use of the basic A300 fuselage cross-section.
By early 1986, Airbus had reached the conclusions that it needed to add both of these types to its product range to maintain its competitive position against the major US aircraft companies, and that the developing market would justify production of both for entry into service in the early 1990s.
The TA9 would thus become Airbus‚ largest twinjet, and the TA11 would be the company's first four-engine aircraft.
The move from project definition to the preliminary marketing phase (though still short of a formal launch decision) was marked by designating them A330 and A340 respectively. By late 1986 the two types had been closely integrated at design and engineering levels, while launch orders were being sought and the necessary financial backing of the Airbus partner companies was being arranged.
The Airbus proposal for the A330 and A340 was unusual, if not unique, in that it planned to use a single airframe, with basically the same fuselage, wing and tail unit, in both two- and four-engine versions. The fuselage would use the same cross-section as the A300 and A310, with a new and longer center section to mate with a new wing and provide about 17 ft. (5.2 m.) of extra length to increase the seating capacity.
The wing is all-new for the A330 and A340 but is practically the same for both versions. Of advanced design, it has a very high aspect ratio (= length divided by width), and is notable also for its use of variable camber, using an on-board computer to tailor the camber, through small movements of the trailing edge flaps, to suit the weight, speed and altitude at which the aircraft is flying. Only small aerodynamic differences are necessary to allow for the variation in number of engines, and the structure is also identical except for some differences in skin thickness and the engine attachments.
Although the A340 operates at slightly higher weights than the A330, wing bending moments are similar because of the extra relief provided by the weight of the outside engines. Additionally, the lighter, shorter-range A330 needs as much strength as the A340 because it makes more fatigue-inducing flights in a given number of hours.
Both types use the same carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) fins as the A310, and a CFRP tailplane trim-tank as in the A310-300. Cockpit and systems are based on those of the A320, with a computerized fIy-by-wire flight control system, and an advanced EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System) flightdeck with side stick controllers.
In 1986/87, Airbus had considered using the 28,600 lb thrust CFM56-5C2 and the 30,000 lb IAE SuperFan derivative of the V2500. However, the company announced on April 8, 1987, that it had selected the CFM56-5C3 (32,597 lb thrust) to power the A340, and a development of the General Electric CF6-80C2 for the A330.
The A330 (a -300) first flew on November 2, 1992, and although the A330 and A340 had been launched simultaneously in June 1987, and developed in parallel, the first flight of the A340 had occurred more than a year earlier, on October 25, 1991.
Final assembly of both aircraft is undertaken by EADS Aérospatiale in Toulouse, France.
On October 21, 1993, the A330-300 was given simultaneous JAA/FAA certification, the first time this had happened to an airplane.
Air Inter was launch customer for the General Electric engined version and received its first delivery in 1993. US Airways was the launch customer in the United States with nine A330s. Thai International received its first two A330-300s with PW 4183 turbofans in December 1994, delayed slightly by the impact on the test program of the crash of an A330 during flight testing by Airbus.
The Rolls-Royce Trent 700 was certificated at 72,000 lb in December 1994, and Cathay took delivery of the first of its ten Trent-powered A300s at the end of February 1995, putting it in service on March 3, 1995.
In a two-class cabin layout, the A330-300 can carry 335 passengers over 4,610 nm (8540 km) and, with the addition of 16.7 tonnes of freight in its large cargo space, its range is still better than 2,800 nm (5,190 km).
In a three-class cabin layout, the A330-300 can carry 295 passengers 5,660 nm (10,500 km), and in a single-class layout, it can carry 440 passengers.
The aircraft's large cargo capacity is such that it is comparable to early Boeing 747s, and some airlines run overnight cargo-only flights after their daytime passenger services.
While the standard A330-300 shares the same fuselage length as the A340-300, Airbus studied various stretched (A330-400) and shortened (A330-100 and -200) versions. One stretched, high capacity concept looked at for a time featured lower-deck seating in place of the forward freight hold.
The shortened A330-200 version was formally launched in November 1995 as a long range 767-300ER competitor, and is described separately. It has a range of up to 6,400 nm (11,860 km), has a typical seating capacity of 253 passengers in three classes. First flight was on August 13 1997, with certification and first customer delivery, to ILFC, in April 1998. (See separate entry)
Current powerplant options for the A330 are either two GE CF6-80E1A1s or -80E1A2s producing 65,500 lb or 67,443 lb thrust, two Pratt & Whitney PW4164s or PW4183s rated at 64,070 lb and 68,000 lb respectively, or two Rolls-Royce Trent 700s rated at 72,000 lb thrust. All of these engines are ETOPS-rated for 180 minutes.
The direct Boeing equivalent of the A330-300 is the 777-200.
Airbus will replace the A330-300 with the future A350-900 XWB, currently predicted to fly in 2013.
As of November 2006, total deliveries of the A330-300 stood at 202. Of these, 201 were still in service.
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