First A330-800 makes maiden flight
The first A330-800 took off this morning at Blagnac in Toulouse, France at 10:31am local time, for its maiden flight taking place over south-western France.
Above:
The A330-800 takes off powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines.
Courtesy Airbus
The aircraft, MSN1888, will perform the dedicated flight-physics tests required for this variant.
The crew in the cockpit comprise: Experimental Test Pilots Malcolm RIDLEY and François BARRE and Test-Flight Engineer Ludovic GIRARD. Meanwhile, monitoring the aircraft systems and performance in real-time at the flight-test-engineer’s (FTE) station are Catherine SCHNEIDER and Jose CORUGEDO BERMEJO.
The A330-800’s certification development programme itself will last around 300 flight-test hours, paving the way for certification in 2019. Its sibling, the larger A330-900 family member, recently completed its development testing and certification programme which validated the A330neo Family’s common engines, systems, cabin and flight & ground operations.
Launched in July 2014, the latest generation of Airbus’ widebody family, the A330neo builds on the A330ceo’s economics, versatility and reliability. The NEO’s two versions – the A330-800 and A330-900 – will accommodate 257 and 287 passengers respectively in a three-class seating layout, are powered by the latest-generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, offer new 'Airspace' cabin amenities and feature a new larger span wing with Sharklet wingtip devices.
The A330 has received over 1,700 orders from 120 customers. More than 1,400 A330s are flying with over 120 operators worldwide.