The first flight of the A330-800 neo

The first flight of the A330-800 of the Airbus A330 series  took place at 10:30 am on November 6th.

The first flight of the A330-800 (source: travelers club)

A new version of the A330 neo

This information was clarified by the European manufacturer in a tweet on November 5th. This version of the A330 neo is the shortest proposed by Airbus. The list price is 254.8 billion dollars. It can fly on fifteen thousand kilometers with 257 passengers on board. For this reason, it is a direct competitor of the Boeing 787. The European aircraft manufacturer says about this new generation of the A330: "These aircraft benefit from the profitability, versatility and technical regularity of the A330 family that have proven, and show a reduction in fuel consumption of the order of 25% per seat compared to competing aircraft of the previous generation. It should be recalled that two airlines are interested in the long-haul: Kuwait Airways, which signed on October 15, 2018 for 8 A330-800s and Uganda Airlines in July 2018 for 2 aircraft.

The first A330-800 neo (source: AAF)

The aircraft will be certified

As planned, the aircraft began its 300-hour test flight campaign, lasting just under a year. On the program, a battery of tests to check the aircraft's capabilities. Airbus can rely on the tests that have pushed the big brother of the A330-800, the A330-900, into the "last trenches". Indeed, "The A330-800 is 99% similar to the A330-900. The 1% differentiating feature is essentially a 5-metre shorter fuselage, with a standard capacity of 257 passengers, compared to the 330-900 version designed for a standard capacity of 287 passengers," recalls François Kubica, chief engineer of the A330neo program. 

(Airbus)

It took off on October 19, 2017, and underwent various tests: extreme temperatures, low speed takeoff, medium altitude tests (in the mountains), visits to various airports around the world. These tests led to an EASA certification on 26 October.

The first test flight of the A330-800 neo was also an opportunity to take beautiful images of the aircraft. We can notice its new Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines and its sharklets at the end of the wings, made of composite materials. 

The certification of the second member of the A330 neo family should take place in 2019 with commissioning in 2020. 

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