Airbus A333-300

The Airbus A330 is a medium to long range wide-body twin-engine jet airliner made by Airbus, a
division of Airbus Group. Versions of the A330 have a range of 5,600 to 13,430 kilometres (3,020 to 7,250 nmi; 3,480 to 8,350 mi) and can accommodate up to 335 passengers in a two-class layout or carry 70 tonnes (154,000 lb) of cargo.

The A330's origin dates to the mid-1970s as one of several conceived derivatives of Airbus's first airliner, the A300. The A330 was developed in parallel with the four-engine A340, which shared many common airframe components but differed in number of engines. Both airliners incorporated fly-by-wire flight control technology, first introduced on an Airbus aircraft with the A320, as well as the A320's six-display glass cockpit. In June 1987, after receiving orders from various customers, Airbus launched the A330 and A340. The A330 was Airbus's first airliner that offered a choice of three engines: General Electric CF6, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, and Rolls-Royce Trent 700.

The A330-300, the first variant, took its maiden flight in November 1992 and entered passenger service with Air Inter in January 1994. Responding to dwindling sales, Airbus followed up with the slightly shorter A330-200 variant in 1998. Subsequently developed A330 variants include a dedicated freighter, the A330-200F, and a military tanker, the A330 MRTT. The A330 MRTT formed the basis of the proposed KC-45, entered into the US Air Force's KC-X competition in conjunction with Northrop Grumman, where after an initial win, on appeal lost to Boeing's tanker.

Since its launch, the A330 has allowed Airbus to expand market share in wide-body airliners. Competing twinjets include the Boeing 767 and 777, along with the 787, which entered service in late 2011. The long-range Airbus A350 XWB was to succeed both the A330 and A340. The current A330 (referred to as the A330ceo (current engine option) since 2014) is to be replaced by the A330neo, which includes new engines and other improvements. As of January 2016, A330ceo orders stand at 1,424, of which 1,261 have been delivered and 1,236 remain in operation. The largest operator is Turkish Airlines with 53 A330s in its fleet.

Development

Airbus's first airliner, the A300, was envisioned as part of a diverse family of commercial aircraft. In pursuit of this goal, studies began in the early 1970s into derivatives of the A300. Before introducing the A300, Airbus identified nine possible variations named A300B1 through B9. A tenth variant, the A300B10, was conceived in 1973 and developed into the longer range Airbus A310.Airbus then focused its efforts on single-aisle (SA) studies, conceiving of a family of airliners later known as the Airbus A320 family, the first commercial aircraft with digital fly-by-wire controls. During the SA studies Airbus turned its focus back to the wide-body aircraft market, simultaneously working on both projects.

In the mid-1970s Airbus began development of the A300B9, a larger derivative of the A300, which would eventually become the A330. The B9 was essentially a lengthened A300 with the same wing, coupled with the most powerful turbofan engines available. It was targeted at the growing demand for high-capacity, medium-range, transcontinental trunk routes.Offering the same range and payload as the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 but with 25 per cent more fuel efficiency, the B9 was seen as a viable replacement for the DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar trijets. It was also considered as a medium-ranged successor to the A300

At the same time, a 200-seat four-engine version, the B11 (which would eventually become the A340) was also under development The B11 was originally planned to take the place of narrow-body Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s then in commercial use, but would later evolve to target the long-range, wide-body trijet replacement market. To differentiate from the SA series, the B9 and B11 were re-designated as the TA9 and TA11, with TA standing for "twin aisle". Development costs were reduced by the two aircraft using the same fuselage and wing, with projected savings of US$500 million. Another factor was the split preference of those within Airbus and, more importantly, those of prospective customers; twinjets were favoured in North America, quad-jets desired in Asia, and operators had mixed views in Europe. Airbus ultimately found that most potential customers favoured four engines due to their exemption from existing twinjet range restrictions and their ability to be ferried with one inactive engine. As a result, development plans prioritised the four-engined TA11 ahead of the TA9

Design effort

The first specifications for the TA9 and TA11, aircraft that could accommodate 410 passengers in a one-class layout, emerged in 1982.They showed a large underfloor cargo area that could hold five cargo pallets or sixteen LD3 cargo containers in the forward, and four pallets or fourteen LD3s in the aft hold—double the capacity of the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar or DC-10, and 8.46 metres (27.8 ft) longer than the Airbus A300. By June 1985, the TA9 and TA11 had received more improvements, including the adoption of the A320 flight deck, digital fly-by-wire (FBW) control system, and side-stick control. Airbus had developed a common cockpit for their aircraft models to allow quick transition by pilots. The flight crews could transition from one type to another after only one week's training, which reduces operator costs. The two TAs would use the vertical stabiliser, rudder, and circular fuselage sections of the A300-600, extended by two barrel sections.

Airbus briefly considered the variable camber wing, a concept that requires changing the wing profile for a given phase of flight. Studies were carried out by British Aerospace (BAe), now part of BAE Systems, at Hatfield and Bristol. Airbus estimated this would yield a two per cent improvement in aerodynamic efficiency, but the feature was rejected because of cost and difficulty of development. A true laminar flow wing (a low-drag shape that improves fuel efficiency) was also considered but rejected.

A mostly blue jet engine suspended on a wing; it is characterised by its smooth nacelle, or outer casing.
The A330 was the first Airbus aircraft on which Rolls-Royce supplied engines, with its Trent 700 turbofans.This engine is from an EgyptAir A330 in late 1990s-mid-2000s-era livery.
From the beginning of the TA9's development, a choice of engines from the three major engine manufacturers, Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney, and GE Aviation, was planned. GE Aviation first offered the General Electric CF6-80C2. However, later studies indicated that more thrust was needed to increase the initial power capability from 267 to 289 kN (60,000 to 65,000 lbf). GE enlarged the CF6-80C2 fan from 236 to 244 centimetres (92.9 to 96.1 in) to create the CF6-80E1, giving a new thrust output of 300–320 kN (67,000–72,000 lbf). Rolls-Royce initially wanted to use the 267 kN (60,000 lbf) Trent 600 to power Airbus's newest twinjet and the upcoming McDonnell Douglas MD-11. However, the company later agreed to develop an engine solely for the A330, the Trent 700, with a larger diameter and 311 kN (69,900 lbf) of thrust. Similarly, Pratt & Whitney signed an agreement that covered the development of the A330-only PW4168. The company increased the fan size to augment power,enabling the engine to deliver 311 kN (69,900 lbf) of thrust.

On 27 January 1986, the Airbus Industrie Supervisory Board held a meeting in Munich, West Germany. Afterwards, the board chairman, Franz Josef Strauß, released a statement that said, "Airbus Industrie is now in a position to finalise the detailed technical definition of the TA9, which is now officially designated the A330, and the TA11, now called the A340, with potential launch customer airlines, and to discuss with them the terms and conditions for launch commitments". The designations were originally reversed; they were switched so the quad-jet airliner would have a "4" in its name. Airbus hoped for five airlines to sign for both the A330 and A340, and on 12 May sent sale proposals to the most likely candidates, including Lufthansa and Swissair.

Entry into service

Aeroflot A330-300 departs London Heathrow Airport (2015)
Air Inter became the first operator of the A330, putting the aircraft into service on 17 January 1994 between Orly Airport, Paris, and Marseille.Deliveries to Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Thai Airways International were postponed to address delamination of the composite materials in the PW4168 engine's thrust reverser assembly. Thai Airways received its first A330 during the second half of the year, operating it on routes from Bangkok to Taipei and Seoul.Cathay Pacific received its Trent 700 A330s following the certification of that engine on 22 December 1994.MAS received its A330 on 1 February 1995 and then rescheduled its other ten orders.

Airbus intended the A330 to compete in the Extended-range Twin-engine Operation Performance Standards (ETOPS) market, specifically with the Boeing 767.(ETOPS is a standard that allows longer range flights away from a diversion airport for aircraft that have met special design and testing standards.) Instead of the "ETOPS out of the box" or "Early ETOPS" approach taken by Boeing with its 777, Nb Airbus gradually increased ETOPS approval on the A330 using in-service experience. Airbus suggested that the A340 and A330 were essentially identical except for their engine number, and that the A340's experience could be applied to the A330's ETOPS approval. The plans were for all three engine types to enter service with 90-minute approval, before increasing to 120 minutes after the total A330 fleet accumulated 25,000 flight hours, and then to 180 minutes after 50,000 flight hours, in 1995.Nb 2 Aer Lingus and Cathay Pacific were two important airlines assisting Airbus in this endeavour by building up in-service flight hours on over-ocean flights. In November 2009, the A330 became the first aircraft to receive ETOPS–240 approval, which has since been offered by Airbus as an option

A330 Converted Freighter

In 2012, Airbus announced plans for a passenger-to-freighter program with ST Aerospace. The A330-300 and −200 are to be part of the P2F program with the −300 to come first and the −200 to follow a year later. Conversion work will be done mainly in Dresden, Germany.Qatar Airways has already showed interest in the program. The aircraft is expected to enter service in 2016.

The A330-300P2F variant has a payload of 60 tonnes with the range of 2,200 nautical miles (4,000 km) or 61 tonnes with the range of 3,600 nautical miles (6,600 km) for the higher MTOW variants. The A330-200P2F will carry the payload of up to 59 tons on ranges up to 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km). Airbus estimates the market demand for the conversions at 900 units during the next 20 years.

Operators
Main article: List of Airbus A330 operators
Angled underside view of white twinjet with red "TAM' letters and tail.
TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A330-200 powered by PW4168
As of April 2016, there are 1,250 examples of all A330 variants in airline service, including 585 A330-200s, 35 -200Fs, and 656 -300s.The airline operators are :-
 Turkish Airlines (59),
Air China (53),
China Eastern Airlines (51),
Cathay Pacific (43),
and other operators with fewer aircraft.