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.[1] 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.[2]
The A330-300, the first variant, took its maiden flight in November 1992, and entered passenger service with Air Inter in January 1994.[3] 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 and 777 as competitors, along with the 787 which entered service in 2011. Airbus's A350 also shares this wide-body airliner market. As of November2022[update], the A330's order book contained 1,764 airframes, of which 1,555 had been delivered and 1,462 were in service.[4] The largest operator is Delta Air Lines with 61 aircraft.[4]
As of August2015[update], seven countries have placed order for a total 41 of Airbus A330 MRTTs, specialised for air-to-air refuelling tanker operations: Australia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, France, Singapore, and South Korea.[5]
The Airbus A300 is Airbus's first production aircraft and the world's first twin-engine, double-aisle wide-body airliner, developed and manufactured by Airbus from 1971 to 2007.
The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on July 30, 1982. The initial 767-200 variant entered service on September 8, 1982, with United Airlines, and the extended-range 767-200ER in 1984. It was stretched into the 767-300 in October 1986, followed by the extended-range 767-300ER in 1988, the most popular variant. The 767-300F, a production freighter version, debuted in October 1995. It was stretched again into the 767-400ER from September 2000.
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 777 is the world's largest twinjet and the most-built wide-body airliner. The jetliner was designed to bridge the gap between Boeing's other wide body airplanes, the twin-engined 767 and quad-engined 747, and to replace aging DC-10 and L-1011 trijets. Developed in consultation with eight major airlines, the 777 program was launched in October 1990, with an order from United Airlines. The prototype was rolled out in April 1994, and first flew in June. The 777 entered service with the launch operator United Airlines in June 1995. Longer-range variants were launched in 2000, and first delivered in 2004.
The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-body. On 7 July 1978, the A310 was launched with orders from Swissair and Lufthansa. On 3 April 1982, the first prototype conducted its maiden flight, and the A310 received its type certificate on 11 March 1983.
The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of 3,700 nmi. Final assembly of the aircraft takes place in Hamburg, Germany and Tianjin, China.
The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the family was followed by the longer A321, the shorter A319, and the even shorter A318 . Final assembly takes place in Toulouse in France; Hamburg in Germany; Tianjin in China since 2009; and Mobile, Alabama in the United States since April 2016.
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel with the A330 twinjet. In June 1987, Airbus launched both designs with their first orders and the A340-300 took its maiden flight on 25 October 1991. It was certified along with the A340-200 on 22 December 1992 and both versions entered service in March 1993 with launch customers Lufthansa and Air France. The larger A340-500/600 were launched on 8 December 1997; the A340-600 flew for the first time on 23 April 2001 and entered service on 1 August 2002.
The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was the first derivative of the baseline A320 and entered service in 1994, about six years after the original A320. The aircraft shares a common type rating with all other Airbus A320-family variants, allowing A320-family pilots to fly the aircraft without the need for further training.
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid-1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the A340 quadjet, and launched both designs alongside with their first orders in June 1987. The A330-300, the first variant, took its maiden flight in November 1992 and entered service with Air Inter in January 1994. The slightly shorter A330-200 variant followed in 1998 with Canada 3000 as the launch operator.
A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines. Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly classified as either the large wide-body aircraft, medium narrow-body aircraft and smaller regional jet.
The Airbus A318 is the smallest and least numerous variant airliner of the Airbus A320 family. The A318 carries 107 to 132 passengers and has a maximum range of 5,750 kilometres. Final assembly of the aircraft took place in Hamburg, Germany. It is intended primarily for short-range service.
The Airbus A310 MRTT Multi-Role Tanker Transport is a military air-to-air refuelling, or in-flight refuelling tanker transport aircraft, capable of operating multi-role missions. The A310 MRTT tanker aircraft is a subsequent development from the earlier Airbus A310 MRT Multi-Role Transport, which was a military transport aircraft for passengers, cargo, and medical evacuation. The A310 MRT and A310 MRTT are both specialist military conversions of existing airframes of the civilian Airbus A310-300C wide-bodied passenger jet airliner.
The Airbus CC-150 Polaris is the designation for the civilian Airbus A310-300s which have been converted into multi-purpose, long-range jet aircraft for passenger, freight or medical transport and mid-air refueling for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is a European aerial refuelling and military transport aircraft based on the civilian Airbus A330. A total of 16 countries have placed firm orders for approximately 68 aircraft, of which 51 had been delivered by 30 November 2020. A version of the A330 MRTT, the EADS/Northrop Grumman KC-45, was selected by the United States Air Force for its aerial tanker replacement programme, but the programme was cancelled.
Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) is a business unit of Airbus which markets and completes business jet variants of the company’s airliners. Following the entry of the 737-based Boeing Business Jet into the market, Airbus introduced the A319-based Airbus Corporate Jet in 1997. Although the term Airbus Corporate Jet was initially used only for the A319CJ, it is now used for all models in a VIP configuration. As of June 2019, 213 corporate and private jets are operating; 222 aircraft have been ordered, including 128 A320 family jets.
The EADS/Northrop Grumman KC-45 was a proposed aerial refueling tanker aircraft based on the Airbus A330 MRTT. The United States Air Force (USAF) had ordered 179 KC-45As in the first stage of replacing the aging Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker tankers currently in service. However, the contest was reopened in July 2008, after Boeing's protest of the award was upheld. In response to the new contest, on 8 March 2010, Northrop Grumman announced it was abandoning its bid for the new contract, with its CEO stating that the revised bid requirement favoured Boeing. On 20 April 2010, EADS announced it was re-entering the competition and entered a bid with the KC-45. Eventually, the USAF selected the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus.
Airbus SE is a European multinational aerospace corporation. The company’s primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate defence and space and helicopter divisions. Since 2019, Airbus has been the world's largest manufacturer of airliners as well as the leading helicopter manufacturer.
AirTanker Services Limited, incorporated in England and Wales on 14 June 2007, is a private limited company in the United Kingdom (UK), which operates a British airline known as AirTanker, and is also an aircraft leasing and operating company.
Virgin Atlantic operates a fleet consisting exclusively of wide-body twinjet aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing.
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