Industry New Airbus A330Neo successfully completes maiden flight
On Thursday, October 19, 2017, the new Airbus A330-900Neo has completed its maiden flight. The aircraft has landed at Toulouse Blagnac Airport successfully after completing its first test flight which lasted for four hours and 13 minutes in total.
The flight deck crew consisted of the experimental test pilots Thierry Bourges and Thomas Wilhelm, as well as the test-flight engineer Alain Pourchet, according to the European manufacturer. The aircraft’s systems and performance were monitored on the ground by Jean-Philippe Cottet, Emiliano Rquena Esteban and Gert Wunderlich.
Airbus A330Neo Family
The Airbus A330Neo Family consists of the smaller A330-800 and the A330-900. The A330-900 will accommodate up to 287 seats in a typical three-class layout, while the A330-800 typically will seat 257 passengers in three classes. Both the A330-800Neo and A330-900Neo will retain the fuselage lengths of the current A330-200 and A330-300, respectively. The two widebody aircraft incorporate new Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, nacelle, titanium pylon, new wings and an Airspace by Airbus Cabin.
According to the official press release, Fabrice Brégier, Airbus COO and President of Airbus Commercial Aircraft said: “Today’s first flight of the A330Neo marks yet another milestone along the Airbus journey of continuous innovation.” He added: “My congratulations and thanks go to all the teams who have contributed to make today’s flight happen, and to our customers for choosing this very efficient and capable aircraft to give them market advantage. We look forward to a successful flight test campaign and entry into service of the A330Neo in 2018.”
In order to realize a fast delivery, Airbus has launched a quick testing program to achieve a total of 1,100 flight hours until the middle of 2018. According to Airbus, “the full flight-test campaigns for both models will be performed by two A330-900s and one A330-800 respectively. To complement these dedicated flight-test aircraft, the first production A330-900 aircraft will also be tasked to validate the full Airspace cabin”.
The Airbus A330Neo program was launched in 2014, with the aim to modernize the current engine option Airbus A330, by equipping it with more fuel efficient and quitter engines, as well as with an improved wing- and fuselage structure. To date 12 customers have placed orders for a total of 212 A330Neos. The largest customer of the new jet will be the Malaysian ultra-low cost long haul carrier Air Asia X which has ordered 66 Airbus A330-900. Until now, only Hawaiian Airlines has ordered 6 of the smaller A330-800. The entry into service (EIS) with A330-900 launch operator TAP Portugal is scheduled for mid-2018.
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Source © Airbus