Today Airbus delivered to TAP Air Portugal the very first A330neo – an A330-900.
The first TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330-900 – part of the A330neo family. Image, Airbus.
This is the first out of 21 aircraft to be delivered to the airline.
If you’ve been looking at the blog for some time, you know we’ve been following the progress of the A330neo project, with the introduction of the mock-up and announcements in 2016 (and the then first announcement of the A330neo operator).
The A330neo mockup -Image, Economy Class and Beyond
TAP Air Portugal will be using an entirely Recaro-fitted cabin, using the CL6710 in Business Class (34 seats in a 1-2-1 formation) and the CL3710 in Economy Plus/Economy Class (96 Economy Plus and 168 Economy seats in a 2-4-2 formation) – a total of 298 passengers on board.
.@tapairportugal‘s #AirspaceByAirbus 3-class cabin (34 full-flat biz class, 96 economy plus & 168 economy) on board the #A330neo guarantees each passenger a comfortable flight, with more personal space; latest gen connectivity; & a quieter cabin #TAP330neo https://t.co/siA5Qf3nwq pic.twitter.com/uU9wYLrjha
— Airbus (@Airbus) November 26, 2018
The seats
📶@tapairportugal makes the most of the latest connectivity features on board the #A330neo including wifi and latest gen in flight entertainment. #TAP330neo pic.twitter.com/dAQJUQAJ5E
— Airbus (@Airbus) November 26, 2018
IFE System
The plane features the full Airspace by Airbus cabin, offering LED Lighting, larger overhead bins, IFE system and connectivity. In terms of the outside, the plane is powered by twin Rolls Royce Trent 7000 engines, with higher span wings. It also features the updated sharklet wingtip devices.
The result of this work is a plane that can carry more people over a longer distance
TAP Air Portugal plans to the use the type on services to the Americas and Africa.
In Quotes…
On the handover, Antonoaldo Neves, TAP Air Portugal CEO stated:
“I am delighted to welcome the first Airbus A330-900 into our expanding fleet. Its unbeatable economics and efficiency will power our business forward”
“The A330neo will give us a lot of operational flexibility thanks to its commonality with the other Airbus aircraft in our fleet. This aircraft will be the first equipped with the new Airspace cabin, which is a new concept shaped to meet TAP’s ambition to offer the best product in the industry to our passengers,“
It’s also an important step for Airbus too, as it converts the purchase into a sale. Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft stated
“Handing over the first ever A330neo to a long standing Airbus customer, TAP Air Portugal, is a very important milestone for Airbus,”
“Through continuous innovations, the A330neo, our newest widebody aircraft, will offer maximum value and efficiency to our customers and superior comfort to their passengers. This occasion marks another step forward to meeting our industry’s goal for sustainable aviation”.
TAP’s Fleet – an Airbus Story, with TAP Express showing regional strengths.
TAP Air Portugal is a solid Airbus customer, with a fleet of 72 Airbus aircraft, split by
- 18 A330 family aircraft
- 4 A340-300
- 50 A320 Family – divided by 22 A319ceo, 21 A320ceo and four A321ceo, one A320neo and two A321neo
The airline also operates ATR Turboprop aircraft and Embraer E-Jets through it’s TAP Express subsidiary.
It’s welcome to see the A330neo finally turn from a concept into a delivered product.
How TAP Air Portugal will use it will be the intresting thing to watch – epsecilly when they move to the Airbus A321LR. Why? This slide is more than a give-away.
Finally concluding the briefing with info about TAP Portugal and the future Airbus fleet. #avgeek
CC: @DanielSander95 pic.twitter.com/2Xy6MsFpDp
— James Field (@AvGeekJames) November 26, 2018
Transatlantic A321LR’s to new territories – it’s entirely possible…
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I saw this on Airbus’ Instagram either yesterday or today. You don’t see many 2-4-2 seat configurations. Hats off to TAP for not treating Economy passengers like sardines.
2-4-2 in the back is a welcome sight. And thankfully very common on the A330 family (neo or ceo). There’s only a few that don’t – Wamos, Cebu Pacific and Air Asia X who insist on putting 3-3-3 in the back.
I’m long a fan of 2-4-2 from a PaxEx perspective – least of all, 18” seat width and wider shoulder space is a welcome thing to have at 35,000ft.
Compared to the Boeing 787…