LAST EDITED ON 05-Oct-00 AT 09:36 AM (GMT)[p]LAST EDITED ON 05-Oct-00 AT 09:34 AM (GMT)
anyone out there with any information on this possible new varient? it seems very economical and interesting for airbus to churn out so many varients of each basic aircraft, like boeing and the 747, which evolved into the 100,200and 300 series.
By: egger - 14th October 2000 at 16:11
RE: airbus a330 500
Hi there,
A330-500 is a proposed replacement for A 300-600. Airlines like Lufthansa and Hapag Lloyd have been urging Airbus to caome up with a successor to the A300/310 series for quite some time. AI was sluggish to respond but has now come up with a solution which sees the A330-200 being shortened by 4 frames forward and 4 frames aft of the wing. MTOW is 228t and range with 222 pax in three class layout 7000nm. This variant (in combination with the -200) would be a real competitor to the 767. Actually its not quite what LH is looking for, because they need an a/c for their highly frequented European routes, so they do not need the range and the weight. That`s why there is a second version with a MTOW of 195t and a range of 4550nm which would seat 253. If LH is satisfied with that remains to be seen. Next month they are going to employ a 757-300 on some of their routes to test its suitability on the line and because of over-capacity at Condor.
Airbus however doesn`t want to produce an a/c just for one customer, they have to keep the whole market in mind.
There hasn`t been any decision to launch it, it`s just a proposal, but a very interesting one, I believe.
Sign In
October 5, 2000 at 9:30 am