In news that is surprising to say the least, Kuwait Airways has signed for 8 Airbus A330-800neo aircraft
Kuwait Airways Airbus A330-800neo – Image – Airbus
The purchasing agreement for 8 A330-800neo was signed by
The agreement was signed by Yousef Al-Jassim, Kuwait Airways Chairman and Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer, at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse.
Yousef Al-Jassim, Kuwait Airways Chairman and Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer on the A330-800neo agreement, Image – Airbus
Kuwait Airways is adding to its Airbus fleet orders, currently consisting of order for A320neo family and A350 family.
On the signing of the agreement Yousef Al-Jassim, Chairman Kuwait Airways said:
“The A330-800 will seamlessly fit into our fleet expansion and growth plans. Its unbeatable operating economics and performance in addition to best in class passenger comfort make it a sound investment. We are confident that the A330-800 will support us to compete effectively on our expanding route network. Our relationship with Airbus extends beyond aircraft acquisitions and we look forward to further collaboration on technical fields.”
Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer states
“We are delighted that Kuwait Airways has chosen the A330neo as a cornerstone of its future widebody fleet. The A330-800 with its unique efficiency and versatility will support the carrier’s ambition to develop its expanding long haul network,”
“The aircraft will seamlessly complement Kuwait Airways’ A320neos and A350 XWBs and deliver unbeatable operating economics, full operational commonality and unmatched passenger experience.”
The A330-800neo is the range optimised version of the A330neo – which shares a 99% component commonality with the more popular A330-900. So far, there have been very few orders for the A330-800neo (with Hawaiian originally being the launch customer – then switching to Boeing), whilst Uganda Airlines is planned to be the new launch customer.
The type can seat 257 in a 3-class configuration, with up to 407 in a dense setup.
Where the A330-800neo has a trump card is its range – whilst the A330-900 can cover up to 7,200nmi, the A330-800neo can fly 8,150nmi. That’s less than an A350-900ULR (which can hit 9,700 nmi), but an impressive enough range to launch some interesting routes.
This could be one to keep a very close eye one
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