Today, Kuwait Airways took delivery of the first two A330-800 aircraft on order. Compared to the 318 orders received by Airbus for the aircraft's counterpart, the A330-900, the -800 has only received 14 orders. Out of the 14 on order, 8 belong to Kuwait.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, aircraft deliveries have been quite rare lately, costing Airbus and Boeing a combined 3.9 billion dollars just in the second quarter of 2020. Aircraft manufacturers are also scaling down production quite a lot due to the pandemic. With both Boeing and Airbus announcing drastic cuts in production.
The aircraft departed Airbus' home in Toulouse, France, just two minutes apart. They arrived at a small welcome party in Kuwait City, attended by a number of company executives, avgeeks, and more. The new aircraft has a new and modern interior, with space for 235 passengers. The interior consists of two cabins: 32 lie flat seats in business class, and 203 upright seats in economy class.
The delivery of these two aircraft marks the first ever delivery of the A330-800, an aircraft that is, as Kuwait Airways said, "nearly a perfect addition to an airline's fleet in such times". The -800 is a very modern, technologically advanced aircraft, with lots of new technology in the cockpit that hasn't been seen in any airliner before. The -800 also has a slightly taller fuselage that the -900, and the interior is more compact.
The A330-800 may be smaller than the -900, but it makes up for that size difference in range. While the larger variant can fly a maximum of 7,200 nautical miles, the -800 can fly nearly 1,000 miles more, with a maximum range of 8,150 nautical miles. With all of these features, the A330-800 costs just under 260 million dollars. It is safe to say that the A330-800 is an amazing plane, and I definitely hope to see it succeed.
Recently Released Articles
Is Sustainable Aviation Fuel a Viable Option to Replace Jet Fuel?
INFORMATIONAL With recent achievements in the airline industry with flights powered by 100% SAF, the question needs to be raised. Are SAF fuels a viable alternative...
READ MORE
How Caitlin Clark Got The WNBA Private Planes
STORIES Caitlin Clark's arrival into the WNBA was highly anticipated, but who would've thought that it would lead to private planes and a CBA opt-out?
READ MORE
Delta Set To Deploy Skywest CRJ-550s
NEWS SkyWest Airlines is adding the CRJ-550 to its fleet. Meanwhile, Delta Airlines is requiring all regional aircrafts in their fleet to provide dual-clas...
READ MORE