The Airbus A330 is a large-capacity, wide-body, medium-to-long-range commercial passenger airliner manufactured by EADS (Airbus S.A.S.). It was developed at the same time as the four-engined A340.

About

Airbus intended the A330 to compete directly in the ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operation Performance Standards) market, specifically with the Boeing 767.

The A330's fuselage and wings are virtually identical to those of the smaller A340 variants, although it has different engines. The A330 basic fuselage design is inherited from the Airbus A300, as is the nose/cockpit section and the fly-by-wire system and flightdeck from the A320. Both the A330 and A340 are assembled on the same final assembly line at Toulouse-Blagnac, France.

By the end of October 2006 a total of 595 A330 had been ordered and 437 delivered.

[edit] Variants

There are two variants of the A330. The A330-300 was launched in 1987 with introduction into service in 1993. The A330-200 was launched in 1995 with introduction into service in 1998.

[edit] A330-200
Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200
Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200

The A330-200 was developed to compete with the Boeing 767-300ER. The A330-200 is similar to the A340-200 or a shortened version of the A330-300. With poor sales of the A340-200 (of which only 28 were built), Airbus decided to use the fuselage of the A340-200 with the wings and engines of the A330-300. This significantly improved the economics of the plane and made the model more popular than the four-engined variant.

Its vertical fin is taller than that of the A330-300 to restore its effectiveness due to the fuselage shrink. It has additional fuel capacity and, like the A330-300, has a MTOW of 233 tonnes. Typical range with 253 passengers in a three-class configuration is 12,500 km (6,750 nautical miles).

Power is provided by two General Electric CF6-80E, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. All engines are ETOPS-180 min rated. First customer deliveries, to ILFC/Canada 3000, were in April 1998.

The A330-200 has sold strongly since its launch, outselling the Boeing 767 by 23 to 9 in 2004. As a result, Boeing has asked both Rolls Royce and GE to design engines that enable the 787 Dreamliner to be 15% more economical than the A330-200.

The direct Boeing equivalent was originally the 767-400ER and in the future will be the 787-9.

[edit] A330-200F
Artist's mockup of the A330-200F.
Artist's mockup of the A330-200F.

Due to flagging A300-600F and A310F sales, Airbus first began marketing a freighter dervative of the A330-200 around 2000-2001, although it was not launched at this time.[1] The A330-200F re-emerged at the 2006 Farnborough Air Show and received its industrial go-ahead in January 2007. Entry into service is planned for the second half of 2009.

The A330-200F is a mid-size, long-haul all-cargo aircraft capable of carrying 64 tonnes over 4,000nm / 7,400 km, or 69 tonnes up to 3,200nm / 5,930 km. It introduces a new versatile main-deck cargo loading system that will be able to accommodate both pallets and containers. Several different arrangements will be possible on the main deck, taking up to 23 Side-by-Side (SBS) pallets, aimed at the high volume, high value commodities or Single Row (SR) loading of 16 pallets (96"x 96"x125" SR pallets) and/or nine AMA containers aimed at the general cargo higher density markets.

To overcome the standard A330's nose-down body angle on the ground, the A330F will make use of a revised nose landing gear layout. The same leg will be used, however it will be attached lower in the fuselage, requiring a distinctive blister fairing on the nose to accomodate the retracted nosegear.

The closest Boeing equivalents are the 767-300F and the MD-8 and DC-10 freighters.

[edit] A330 MRTT
A330 MRTT with two Eurofighter Typhoon
A330 MRTT with two Eurofighter Typhoon

Main article: Airbus A330 MRTT

The Airbus A330 MRTT version of the A330-200 provides aerial refueling and strategic transport. To date it has been selected by Australia and the UK.

The KC-30, a derivative of the A330 similar to the MRTT, is in the running to land a contract from the United States Air Force for perhaps up to 600 tankers to replace the aging KC-135 and KC-10 fleet. EADS is teamed with Northrop Grumman for the bid. If the contract is won, it will require EADS to invest approximately US$600 million in an assembly plant in the United States. The competing KC-767 won the original competition in 2002