Industry TAP Air Portugal will be the first airline to operate the A330Neo starting summer 2018

Airbus’ newest widebody aircraft, the A330Neo, has commenced its route proving trip covering 15 airports worldwide and aiming at 150 hours of flight time in total.  The worldwide tour which started on Monday of this week is the final step in the aircraft certification phase. Type Certification is planned for summer of 2018.

The A330Neo family was introduced in July 2014. Two versions are available: A330-800 and A330-900. Building on the advantages of the A330 family, such as versatility and reliability, the new aircraft family reduces fuel consumption per seat by 25 percent compared to former generation competitors.

Launch operator for the A330Neo is TAP Air Portugal. The airline was also the first in Europe to introduce the sharklet technology in their fleet. These wingtip devices are inspired by the A350 XWB. The technology reduces emissions and allows for greater efficiency.

The aircraft performing the tests is an A330-900 production aircraft which had its first flight on May 15 of 2018. Route proving tests also include cabin systems such as air conditioning as well as demonstrating its overall readiness for airline operations.

TAP Air Portugal is the largest Portuguese airline operating nationally and internationally. The airline’s current fleet is 69 aircraft with an order of 53 Airbus aircraft. The first A330Neo aircraft are scheduled to be delivered by summer 2018.