Commercial

Airbus A330

Manufacturer: Airbus

The Airbus A330 is a twin-engine wide-body airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The family began with the A330-300 and later added the shorter, longer-range A330-200, along with freighter, military tanker, corporate, and re-engined A330neo derivatives.

Aircraft Facts

Type Key
airbus-a330
Class
Commercial
Registry Count
156
Example Registration
N137AR

Specifications

Wingspan
60.3 m / 197.83 ft
Length
58.82 m / 192.98 ft
Height
17.39 m / 57.05 ft
Cruise Speed
871 km/h / 541 mph
Range
13450 km / 7262.42 nmi
First Flight
1992-11-02
Total Built
1671

Aircraft Overview

History

Airbus launched the A330 and four-engine A340 programs in June 1987. The A330-300 first flew on 2 November 1992 and entered service with Air Inter in January 1994. The shortened A330-200 followed in 1998 with Canada 3000 as its launch operator.

Design

The A330 shares wing structure and cockpit commonality with the early A340, but uses two engines and two main landing-gear legs instead of the A340's four engines and three main-gear legs. It uses digital fly-by-wire controls and was the first Airbus airliner offered with engines from General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, or Rolls-Royce.

Variants

The first-generation A330ceo family includes the A330-300, shorter and longer-range A330-200, A330-200F freighter, A330 MRTT tanker-transport, and ACJ330 corporate version. The re-engined A330neo family comprises the A330-800 and A330-900 and uses the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000.

Operations

A330s serve long- and medium-haul passenger, cargo, corporate, and military missions worldwide. The A330-300 is the longer passenger variant, while the A330-200 trades capacity for greater range.

Notable Facts

  • The A330-300 first flew on 2 November 1992.
  • Air Inter introduced the A330-300 in January 1994.
  • Canada 3000 was the launch operator for the A330-200 in 1998.
  • A330ceo engine choices included the GE CF6, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, and Rolls-Royce Trent 700.
  • Wikipedia lists a 13,450 km range for the A330-200 with 247 passengers and 11,750 km for the A330-300 with 277 passengers.

Variants

  • A330-243- 43 registrations - Example N271AD
  • A330-941- 39 registrations - Example N401DZ
  • A330-323- 22 registrations - Example N272AY
  • A330-343- 17 registrations - Example N302PF
  • A330-223- 13 registrations - Example N137AR
  • A330-302- 10 registrations - Example N822NW
  • A330-243F- 6 registrations - Example N330QT
  • A330-202- 3 registrations - Example N3103S
  • A330-300- 3 registrations - Example N992JA

Machine-Readable Resources

Sources