The Airbus A330 is a wide-body, dual-isle, twin-engine jet airliner made by Airbus. Versions of the A330 have a range of 7,400 to 13,430 kilometres (4,000 to 7,250 nautical miles ), and can accommodate up to 335 passengers in a two-class layout, or carry 70 tonnes (150,000 pounds ) of cargo. Two A330-300s were modified to accommodate up to 436 passengers. [1]
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The origin of the A330 dates to the 1970s as one of several conceived derivatives of Airbus's first airliner, the A300. The A330 was developed in parallel with the 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. [2] In June 1987, after receiving orders from various customers, Airbus launched the A330 and A340. The A330 was Airbus's first airliner offered with the choice of three engines: General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce. [3]
The A330-300, the first variant, took its maiden flight in November 1992, and entered passenger service with Air Inter in January 1994. [4] Responding to dwindling sales, Airbus followed up with the slightly shorter A330-200 variant in 1998, which has proved more popular. Subsequently, developed A330 variants include a dedicated freighter, the A330-200F, and a military multi-role aerial refuelling tanker-transport, the A330 MRTT.
Since its launch, the A330 has allowed Airbus to expand market share in wide-body airliners. Airlines have selected the A330 as a replacement for less economical trijets, and versus rival twinjets. Boeing has offered variants of the 767 as direct competitors, along with the 787 which entered service in 2011. Airbus's A350 also shares this wide-body airliner market. As of November 2022 [update] , the A330's order book contained 1,764 airframes, of which 1,555 had been delivered and 1,462 were in service. [5] The largest operator is Delta Air Lines with 61 aircraft. [5]
