Airbus delivers first A330-900 to launch operator TAP Air Portugal
The Portuguese carrier will take delivery of a further 20 A330-900s in the coming years.
Antonoaldo Neves, CEO, TAP Air Portugal, Guilaume Faury, Airbus, President – Commercial Aircraft and Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce, President – Civil Aerospace, attended a formal handover ceremony at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France.
TAP Air Portugal’s first A330-900 is leased from Avolon. It features 298 seats in a comfortable three-class lay-out with 34 full-flat business class, 96 economy plus and 168 economy class seats. The aircraft will be deployed on routes from Portugal to the Americas and Africa.
“I am delighted to welcome the first Airbus A330-900 into our expanding fleet. Its unbeatable economics and efficiency will power our business forward,“ said Antonoaldo Neves, TAP Air Portugal CEO. “The A330neo will give us a lot of operational flexibility thanks to its commonality with the other Airbus aircraft in our fleet. This aircraft will be the first equipped with the new Airspace cabin, which is a new concept shaped to meet TAP’s ambition to offer the best product in the industry to our passengers, “he added.
“Handing over the first ever A330neo to a long standing Airbus customer, TAP Air Portugal, is a very important milestone for Airbus,” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft.
“Through continuous innovations, the A330neo, our newest widebody aircraft, will offer maximum value and efficiency to our customers and superior comfort to their passengers. This occasion marks another step forward to meeting our industry’s goal for sustainable aviation,” he added.
The A330neo is a new generation aircraft building on the A330’s success and leveraging on A350 XWB technology. It incorporates the highly efficient new generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines and a new higher span 3D optimised wing with new sharklets fully optimised for the best aerodynamic performance. New composite nacelles, a fully faired titanium pylon and zero-splice air inlet technology provide the A330-900 with state-of-the-art aerodynamics and acoustics.
The exclusive engine for the A330neo, the Trent 7000 is the seventh in a Trent family that has now accumulated more than 125 million engine flying hours. The Trent 7000 also brings together more than 50 million flying hours of experience from the Trent 700, which powers the original version of the A330.
Mr Cholerton said: “We are proud to power the delivery of the A330neo and warmly congratulate both TAP Air Portugal and Airbus on this delivery milestone. We are now focused on supporting TAP Air Portugal and ensuring a smooth entry into service that demonstrates all the outstanding attributes of this aircraft.”
Today, TAP Air Portugal operates an Airbus fleet of 72 aircraft (18 A330s, 4 A340s, and 50 A320 Family aircraft). The single-aisle fleet includes 22 A319ceo, 21 A320ceo and four A321ceo, one A320neo and two recently delivered A321neo.
The A330 has received over 1,700 orders from 120 customers. More than 1,380 A330s are flying with over 128 operators worldwide. The new A330neo is the latest addition to the leading Airbus widebody family, which also includes the A350 XWB and the A380.
