First A330neo enters final assembly

European airframer Airbus has begun final assembly of its first A330neo at its final assembly line in Toulouse, France with the joining of the aircraft’s wings to the centre fuselage at station 40.

According to Airbus, both the A330-800 and -900 feature A350-inspired wing with Sharklet wingtips, the new AirSpace by Airbus cabin and will reduce fuel consumption by 14 per cent per seat over the current A330 models. The A330neo will be exclusively powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines.

Odile Jubécourt, Head of the A330neo programme, Airbus

“We have started with a very tight development schedule and are today right on time,” says Odile Jubécourt, Airbus Head of the A330neo programme. “I am happy to say we are in good shape to meet the high standards of maturity and reliability our customers expect from us and I want to thank the teams for this outstanding achievement.”

Wings of the first A330neo being joint to the center fuselage at station 40. Airbus Image.
Wings of the first A330neo being joint to the center fuselage at station 40. Airbus Image.

Airbus has also stated that the A330-800 and the A330-900 are 99 percent common, sharing a 95 per cent commonality across the entire A330 fleet. The A330neo has 186 orders from 10 customers.

About Vedant Agarwal

A frequent flyer for both work and pleasure - Vedant has held elite status on many of the major alliances and airlines. Also an avid aviation photographer, his pictures have been published in and on the covers of many international publications.

Check Also

PARIS 2019: Indigo Partners and American Airlines order A321XLRs

Airbus has announced two more orders for its new A321XLR. The first is from Indigo …

+OK