Globally, the A330-800 is a rare aircraft. But now, Kuwait Airways has four of the six examples in active commercial service.
On Wednesday, September 28th, Middle Eastern carrier Kuwait Airways took a double-delivery with a pair of Airbus A330-800s joining the fleet. The two jets, ferried from Toulouse, are the carriers’ third and fourth A330-800s. While technically the same aircraft type and variant as the first two -800s operated by Kuwait Airways, there’s an interesting difference with the new arrivals. Let’s take a look at what this difference might be!
Aircraft delivery details
Delivered on the 28th of September, the two A330-800 aircraft have the following registrations and manufacturer serial numbers (MSN):
- 9K-API (MSN 2016)
- 9K-APH (MSN 2005)
These aircraft took off from Toulouse at around 18:30, within a few minutes of each other, and touched down at Kuwait International Airport at about 01:00 on September 29th. The total flight duration for the delivery flight was five and a half hours.
The two jets are configured in the same manner as the other -800s operated by Kuwait Airways, fitted with 32 seats in business class and 203 in economy class.
New higher-weight certification
We wrote about 9K-APH (MSN 2005) in an August article, and noted that the aircraft had performed far more test flights than its fellow -800s. At the time, the airframe had taken off for 31 flights and, up until the official delivery flight, had achieved 34 test flights over 103 hours and 38 minutes.
As we noted at the time, it has been widely understood that MSN 2005 has been used by Airbus as a test aircraft to certify an increased A330-800 MTOW (maximum take-off weight) of 251 tonnes. Indeed, if we dig into an updated EASA Type-Certificate Data Sheet for the Airbus A330, we can see that special notes exist for A330-800s before and after MSN 2005, with any A330-800 before MSN 2005 being a 242-tonne airframe. By increasing the aircraft type’s certified MTOW, Airbus is now officially able to extend the A330neo’s range by around 600NM.
Six -800s now delivered to customers worldwide
With this latest delivery of A330-800s, the global fleet in commercial service now stands at a meager six jets. Kuwait Airways now has four of six, with the other two -800s flying with Uganda Airlines. The shorter (and therefore lower capacity) -800 hasn’t found the same success as its similarly-sized predecessor, the A330-200. Indeed, despite the -800’s superior range, airlines have overwhelmingly opted for the -900, with over 75 now built of the 262 ordered.
All in all, only 11 A330-800 aircraft have been ordered. However, Garuda’s commitment to four is in question – as the airline could end up swapping these for the -900. The other -800 will go to Air Greenland and will undergo test flights in the coming months.
