Delta Air Lines Takes First Heavyweight A330-300

Airbus on Thursday delivered an A330-300 certified to carry a maximum takeoff weight of 242 metric tons to Delta Air Lines, making the Atlanta-based airline the first of 11 worldwide customers to receive the option. Delta has selected GE CF6-80E1 engines to power its new A330-300.

Launched in 2012, the increased-takeoff-weight A330-200 and A330-300 incorporate a new aerodynamic package, engine improvements and, in the -300 verison, an optional center fuel tank. The upgrades on the A330-300 allow for an extended range of up to 6,100 nautical miles while offering up to 2 percent less fuel consumption. The incremental improvement to the A330 family received airworthiness approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency in April and received parallel certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration earlier this month.

Airbus held a delivery ceremony in Toulouse on May 28, attended by some 100 Delta employees chosen out of 10,000 nominated for the airline’s corporate recognition program called the Chairman’s Club.

Airbus’s biggest A330 customer in North America, Delta flies both Airbus narrowbodies and widebodies, including 57 A319ceo and 69 A320ceo airplanes, plus 11 A330-200s and 21 A330-300s. In addition to nine more A330-300s and 45 A321ceos scheduled for delivery to Delta, the airline ordered 25 A350-900 and 25 A330-900neo widebodies last year.

“The higher takeoff weight allows the airline to fly both trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific routes, all in unrivalled comfort with operational reliability over 99 percent,” said Airbus COO for customers John Leahy. “The 242-ton A330 clearly paves the way for the A330neo and A350 XWB to join Delta’s fleet in the next few years.”