In the late 1980s, Airbus also wanted a piece of the pie in the wide-body, long-haul aircraft market, which was dominated by North American aircraft manufacturers. In addition to the Boeing 747 and the newer Boeing 767, the two McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 jets were already considered obsolete because they consumed too much kerosene with their three engines.
Based on the fuselage cross-section of the A300, the A330 and A340 models were developed in parallel, which differed only in the number of engines – two for the A330 and shorter long-haul routes and four turbines for the A340 with even more range. At that time, other rules applied to longer surface flights, in order to be able to reach an alternative airport within a certain period of time in the event of an engine failure.
The A330 benefited from innovations from the smaller A320 series, such as the two-man cockpit, electronic fly-by-wire flight controls and a sidestick instead of a control yoke – and later from the difficulties of the competition. The commissioning of the Dreamliner, the competing model from Boeing, was repeatedly delayed. It wasn’t until 2011 that the first Boeing 787 was delivered to an airline.
The A330 overtakes the Boeing 767
As early as January 1994, the French airline Air Inter, which was later taken over by Air France, took delivery of the first example. This was followed at the end of the 1990s by the A330-200 model, which had a fuselage length of almost five meters and was able to fly distances of up to 13,300 kilometers.
All A330s are finally assembled at the Toulouse plant, with individual components such as the tailplane from Spain, the vertical tail from Germany and the wings from Great Britain being flown in with the Beluga transporters.
Not all orders have yet been delivered, as has the case for the successor model with new, even more economical engines. Within 30 years since the first flight, the Airbus A330 has not only advanced to become Airbus’ best-selling long-haul aircraft with 1,548 units, but has also overtaken the production figures for the Boeing 767 with 1,259 units.
Also read:
– Airbus is shaking up the air freight market with its giant Belugas
– Airbus A300: How the original Airbus changed aviation
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