FARNBOROUGH: Airbus gains a collection of A330neo orders
With the A330neo coming closer to certification, airlines are beginning to look closer at what they can do with the aircraft. Day three saw Airbus book in a handful of orders for the aircraft, including the A330-800 variant, finally providing the aircraft with a customer.
Here’s a summary of the orders:
Undisclosed customer for six A330neos
Airbus started the day with an order for six A330neos from an unidentified customer.
Information is limited about this order. No delivery date has been provided and the region of the order is unknown.
Interestingly enough, the way Airbus has book the order suggests it may include the A330-800 and A330-900.
Additionally, Airbus has stated the list price of the A330neo $259.9 million in the same press release. Looking at Airbus’ list prices for 2018, this is the for the A330-800 variant.
Time will tell who ordered which variant.
Uganda Airlines for two A330neos
Later on in the show, Airbus secured a memorandum of understanding for two A330-800s, providing the aircraft with a customer at last.
Uganda Airlines intends to use the aircraft to build their long-haul international network.
The aircraft will be configured in a three class layout featuring 20 business class seats, 28 premium economy seats and 213 economy seats.
The airline decided on the aircraft due to its excellent operational performance and reliability, as displayed during the route proving tests with the A330-900.
The A330-800 is said to make its first flight towards the ends of the year.
Here are some photos of the signing ceremony from Airbus:
While the A330neo hasn’t got many orders, Airbus still remains positive about the future of the aircraft. With A330ceos still being delivered and still relatively young in fleets around the world, airlines don’t have the need to replace them yet. Once the replacement cycle kicks in, the A330neo is bound to see some orders.
Airbus doesn’t expect to bring in every single order though. With the Boeing 787 also proving to be a excellent player, it all comes down to who offers the better deal and better performance.