Sunday, November 9, 2014

First 242 ton (MTOW) A330 begins final assembly

Destined for Delta Airlines the first 242 ton (MTOW) A330 is seen on the production line at Toulouse.
(Photo by Airbus)

Airbus has begun the final assembly of its first A330 with the new 242 tonne maximum take-off-weight (MTOW) capability in Toulouse, France.

According to Airbus, the aircraft is currently completing its structural assembly before the cabin integration phase and will be used for certification flight trials. A second aircraft is being assembled in parallel, which is destined for entry in service in the second quarter of 2015 with launch customer Delta Air Lines.

Airbus A330 program head Patrick Piedrafita said, “This newest, enhanced variant of our popular A330 family is the basis for the future A330neo and is a concrete example of Airbus’ incremental innovation strategy in action.”

He added: “Airlines operating the new 242 tonne A330 will be able to carry additional payload on longer routes, while at the same time enjoying a very high operational reliability of 99.4%.”

(Linda Blachly - ATWOnline News)

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