AFM75_A330_AFM71 06/09/2011 11:31 Page 34
34 | AFM • ISSUE 75 September-October 2011
FOCUS: A330 Next year will be the 20th anniversary of the A330’s first flight. With a competitor and successor taking shape, now seems a good time to review the fortunes of this popular aircraft and to ask what the future holds. Simon Finn, SVP of aviation at DVB Bank investigates
FINANCING THE A330 A
FTER IT SUCCESSFULLY INTRODUCED THE A300 IN THE 1970s, Airbus’ options for a new project included three separate designs: a single-aisle aircraft; a larger capacity derivative of the twin-aisle A300 (the TA9); and a long-range four-engine design (the TA11). Despite consortium partners’ support for the TA9 and a reluctance to compete head on with other manufacturers in the single-aisle market, Airbus forged the single-aisle, or what we now know to be the A320 Family. However, studies for the twin-aisle projects continued and another TA12 design emerging that would offer less range than the TA11 but would also feature twin engines. It became clear that developing the TA12 would negate the need for the TA11 and Airbus dropped the idea of the long-range twin-engine TA12. It began instead to examine ways to reduce programme costs by maximising the commonality of parts used on both the TA9 and TA11. It concluded that the two aircraft could share a common fuselage cross section with the A300/A310. They could also share a common wing, control systems (apart from the engines) and common avionics. These aircraft would put Airbus in the big league of commercial aircraft. By June 1987, 10 airlines had placed orders for 41 TA9 and 89 of the larger TA11 aircraft – enough for Airbus to officially launch the two new aircraft types as the A330 and A340 respectively.
The A330-300 and -200 The A330 was initially offered as just one series – the A330-300. It featured a range of 4,600nm with two-class seating for 335 passengers and a 204 tonne maximum take-off weight (MTOW). By November 1995, the A330-300 was well established and was being flown by airlines including Air Inter, Aer Lingus, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways. However, the A330-300 market appeared not to be developing as quickly as Airbus might have hoped and slow progress was being made in face of the twinengine 777. Like the A340, the new version offered transpacific range capability but with a twin-engine configuration. Another mid-range 777 version with transatlantic range was pitched directly against the A330-300 and had siphoned its orders. Airbus launched a new series of the A330 with a shorter fuselage. The A330-M10 would carry 253 passengers in three classes around 6,400nm, putting it in direct competition with Boeing’s 767-300ER, which until then was very successful.
It would carry 293 passengers in a two-class layout, at much lower seat-mile costs, with better climb performance and greater payload and range than the 767-300ER. Improvements to A340300’s wing structure would be transferred to the new A330 giving it a 230 tonne MTOW. A new centre-section fuel tank would provide the additional range for the shortened twin-jet. In August 1997, the A330-200 (formerly A330-M10) flew for the first time with GE CF6-80E1 engines. It entered service with Canada 3000 in April 1998. In December 1997, the first flight of a PW4000-100-powered A330-200 took place, followed by the first flight of Rolls-Royce’s Trent 700 version in June 1998. Another 233 tonne MTOW option further enhanced the A330200 payload and range. A330-200 structural changes would also be incorporated into the production of the A330-300, allowing the 230 tonne version an extra 700nm range so that it could serve routes from Europe to the US west coast or Europe to Asia.
Competition and succession Boeing initially responded with the 767-400ER, stretched from the 767-300ER. The market did not respond well to another 767 variant without the performance now available from the A330-200. It seemed the A330-200 would take the lion’s share of the market for the coming decade, but of course, Boeing would not let that happen. In 2004, it announced the 787. It would offer two series of 787 with greater range and efficiency than the A330s. The 242-seat (three class) 787-8 is smaller than the A330200. The 280-seat 787-9 is also smaller than the A330-300 but both 787s offer much lower trip and seat-mile costs and have superior all-round performance versus their larger A330 Family competitors. The all new twin-engine 787 design –