Story ID: 716
ACJ Family Expands with 330neo
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: The ACJ330neo will be able to carry 24 passengers 9,400 nm.
Word Count: 483
Airbus Corporate Jets is rounding out its new engine option (neo) offerings with the launch of the ACJ330neo, which would offer a range that the company touts as “nonstop to the world.” Announced Sunday on the eve of EBACE 2017, the VIP variant of the Airbus A330neo can fly 25 passengers 9,400 nm, capable of connecting Europe to Australia, nonstop.

The ACJ330neo fills the gap in the ACJ family between the ACJ319neo and the ACJ350XWB, providing a product line that offers 80 to 300 sq m of cabin space and a range from 6,750 to 10,800 nm. With the ACJ330neo, said Benoit Defforge, managing director of Airbus Corporate Jets, “our family is complete.”

The A330neo will be powered by the new generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines and incorporate Sharklet winglets, similar to the A350 XWB. In addition, the aircraft will sport a new high-span wing with extended wingspan to 65 meters (689 feet).

The improvements provide more payload and range over earlier versions of the A330 that come with 12 percent fuel burn savings. Other features include an onboard airport navigation system, runway overrun prevention system and LED exterior lights.

The first A330neo will be handed over to airline customers next year, and according to Defforge Airbus Corporate Jets has reserved slots for the ACJ330neo in 2019. He added that the newest member of the ACJ family already is attracting interest.

The first two members of the neo family, the ACJ320 and ACJ319, meanwhile, are on track for customer deliveries at the end of 2018 and the second quarter of 2019, respectively, said Chadi Saade, Airbus vice president commercial. Airbus has previously announced orders for eight of the neo family, including six ACJ320neos and two ACJ319neos. Airbus Corporate Jets has not disclosed its customer base for most of the neo family, but Alpha Star, based in Riyadh, is the launch customer of the ACJ319neo.

Airbus Corporate Jets also this week rolled out a new Infinito cabin design for the ACJ319neo developed with Italian hypercar maker Atelier Pagani Automobili. The design was “started from scratch” with no restrictions, said Horacio Pagani, founder and chief designer of Pagani Automobili, and resulted in new concepts of space, light and materials. “The combination of state-of-the-art composite materials never used before in an aircraft, such as CarboTitanium, with the typical design language of Pagani Automobili, has always represented our signature,” Pagani said. “Apply our Renaissance touch into the wider spaces to Airbus corporate jet cabins is the beginning of an exciting new venture for us.”

The Infinito design incorporates curves inspired by nature that form a pathway through the cabin, shell-shaped valances and walls between zones that can switch from opaque to transparent. The interior includes soft leather carpets and a wooden floor contrasting with man-made carbon fiber in furniture and wall frames.