Which Airlines Fly The Airbus A330neo?

The Airbus A330neo was introduced to commercial service in December 2018, almost five years ago. This widebody new iteration of the successful A330 family has two members: the A330-800 and the A330-900. While the -800 has struggled to become a staple in today’s aviation industry, the -900 has had way more luck and could be seen in plenty of airports globally.

The A330-900 takes to the skies

On average, this aircraft model carries 287 passengers a distance of around 7,200 nautical miles (13,330 kilometers). Nonetheless, the type can handle up to 440 passengers.

According to data from ch-aviation, Airbus has delivered a total of 107 A330-900s globally. These are spread out across 18 airlines. According to data from Cirium, there are 895 weekly flights onboard the A330-900. US legacy carrier Delta Air Lines is the largest operator of the A330-900. It has, in total, 24 aircraft of this model, representing just 2.5% of the whole airline’s fleet. TAP Air Portugal, the carrier that first introduced the A330neo family to commercial aviation, is the second-largest operator of the -900 variant, with 19 examples.

Condor has a fleet of ten A330-900s; Lion Air operates a fleet of eight A330-900s in Indonesia. Following Lion Air, there are four airlines with five A330-900s each: Azul Linhas Aéreas, Cebu Pacific Air, Corsair International, and ITA Airways.

Photo: KITTIKUN YOKSAP | Shutterstock.

Starlux Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have four aircraft apiece; Garuda Indonesia has two A330-900s; five more airlines have two planes a piece: Air Belgium, Air Mauritius, Aircalin, Citilink, and Thai AirAsia X, while Air Sénégal, Iberojet, and Sunclass Airlines have one each.

Per ch-aviation, 209 additional A330-900s are set to be delivered in the future. Of this number, 69 are unassigned at the moment. Iran Air has 28 planes waiting to be delivered, by far the largest number for a single carrier. Other companies with over ten deliveries in the making are Delta Air Lines (15), AirAsia X (15), ITA Airways (13), Virgin Atlantic (12), Condor (11), and Cebu Pacific Air (11).

The A330-800 is struggling to be successful

The A330-800 can carry up to 406 passengers, although it has 257 on average in a three-class configuration. The plane has struggled to be successful. Some reasons explaining the lack of interest in the model include:

• Not a suitable replacement for the A330-200 or Boeing 767.
• Not a satisfactory competitor for the 787 Dreamliner 9.
• Too many second-hand A330s on the market at the moment.

There are a total of seven active A330-800s currently globally on scheduled passenger services. These are operated by three airlines: Kuwait Airways with four, Uganda Airlines with two, and Air Greenland with one. Airbus also has one demo. The A330-800 is so rare if you live in the United States; you would not see a single one this winter season.

Five more are waiting to be delivered in the future. Garuda Indonesia is set to receive four, and one Private customer is waiting on one example.

Where can you mostly see the A330neo aircraft?

Per Cirium, these are the routes that have the largest number of A330-900 flights:

1. Lisbon-Sao Paulo Guarulhos – 18 weekly flights. Operated by TAP Air Portugal.
2. Taipei-Tokyo Narita – 13 weekly flights. Operated by Starlux.
3. London Heathrow–New York JFK – 13 weekly fights. Operated by Virgin Atlantic.
4. Lisbon–Rio de Janeiro – 11 weekly flights. Operated by TAP Air Portugal.
5. Paris Orly–St. Denis – ten weekly flights. Operated by Corsair.

Read more: The World’s 5 Busiest Airports For Airbus A330neo Flights

Per Cirium, these are the routes that have the largest number of A330-800 flights:

1. Kuwait-Jeddah – 13 weekly flights. Operated by Kuwait Airlines.
2. Bangkok-Kuwait – seven weekly flights. Operated by Kuwait Airlines.
3. Kangerlussuaq-Copenhagen – four weekly flights. Operated by Air Greenland.
4. Kuwait-Amman – four weekly flights. Operated by Kuwait Airlines.
5. Kuwait-Istanbul – three weekly flights. Operated by Kuwait Airlines.

Have you traveled onboard an Airbus A330neo aircraft? How was your experience? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: ch-aviation, Cirium.