Industry Kuwait Airways orders eight A330-800

  • Airbus

Kuwait Airways and Airbus have announced, that the carrier has signed a purchase agreement for eight A330-800 aircraft.

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The purchase agreement was signed by Yousef Al-Jassim, Kuwait Airways Chairman and Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer at Toulouse.

With the new order, Kuwait Airways furthermore underlines its growth ambitions. The carrier has already ordered Airbus A350XWB and A320neo Family aircraft. First deliveries of the carrier´s new fleet will commence in 2019. At the beginning of October, the airline hinted that it has ordered 39 Airbus aircraft to enhance its fleet.

Yousef Al-Jassim said: “The A330-800 will seamlessly fit into our fleet expansion and growth plans [...] We are confident that the A330-800 will support us to compete effectively on our expanding route network. Our relationship with Airbus extends beyond aircraft acquisitions and we look forward to further collaboration on technical fields.”

“We are delighted that Kuwait Airways has chosen the A330neo as a cornerstone of its future wide body fleet.  The A330-800 with its unique efficiency and versatility will support the carrier’s ambition to develop its expanding long haul network,” added Christian Scherer.

© Airbus

After Hawaiian Airlines announced to mull its A330-800 order in March 2018 and to choose Boeing 787-9 instead, Airbus had no confirmed customer for its smaller A330 version. Now with Kuwait Airways´s new firm order, Airbus is being rewarded to hold on to its A330-800 programme.

Airbus´ A330neo Family consists of the A330-800 and the A330-900. The larger -900 can seat more passengers and received its EASA type certificate this September. Launch customer TAP Air Portugal is expecting to welcome the first A330-900 to its fleet this year. The A330-800 on the other hand is expected to perform its maiden flight in the upcoming weeks.

In total, the A330neo has received orders from 120 customers for 1700 aircraft. Compared to previous generation competitors, the A330neo features reduced fuel consumption by 25 percent per seat while increasing its range by up to 1500nm compared to current A330s. The aircraft are being powered by state-of-the-art Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines.

Kuwait Airways is Kuwait´s national carrier and commenced operations in March 1954. The airline has its operational base at Kuwait International Airport and flies with a 27 aircraft strong fleet. 10 Airbus A320s, five A330s, one Boeing 737-900, one 747-400 and 10 777s belong to the fleet. Kuwait Airways flies to 42 destinations in 25 countries.

Source © airbus.com

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