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Kuwait Airways orders eight A330-800neo
October 19th 2018
State-controlled Kuwait Airways this week signed a preliminary agreement to acquire eight A330-800neo, making the airline the first customer for the smallest A330neo variant. Read More »
The A330-800neo order is good news for Airbus, but it comes at a cost. Following the neo commitment, Kuwait Airways reduced its order for the A350-900 from ten to five aircraft only.
“The A330-800 will seamlessly fit into our fleet expansion and growth plans. Its unbeatable operating economics and performance in addition to best in class passenger comfort make it a sound investment. We are confident that the A330-800 will support us to compete effectively on our expanding route network. Our relationship with Airbus extends beyond aircraft acquisitions and we look forward to further collaboration on technical fields," said Kuwait Airways chairman, Yousef Al-Jassim, at the signing ceremony in Toulouse.
Airbus will begin delivering the A330neo to Kuwait Airways next year, alongside 15 A320neo and said five A350-900s.
"We are delighted that Kuwait Airways has chosen the A330neo as a cornerstone of its future widebody fleet. The A330-800 with its unique efficiency and versatility will support the carrier’s ambition to develop its expanding long haul network,” said Airbus CCO, Christian Scherer. “The aircraft will seamlessly complement Kuwait Airways’ A320neos and A350 XWBs and deliver unbeatable operating economics, full operational commonality and unmatched passenger experience," Scherer added.
Launched in July 2014, the A330neo Family is the new-generation A330, comprising two variants: the A330-800 earmarked as an A330-200 replacement and the A330-900 designed to replace A330-300s.
The A330neo Family will be powered by Rolls-Royce’s latest-generation Trent 7000 engines.
At press time, Airbus had logged 224 firm orders for the A330neo, although all of them are for the larger -900neo. Asiana Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines had cancelled their A330-800neo orders earlier this year. Losing the Hawaiian order was particularly embarrassing for Airbus, given the airline agreed to buy B787-9 Dreamliners instead.
Similar to many other state-controlled airlines, Kuwait Airways has a very diverse fleet mix, which industry analysts say will make it difficult for the carrier to achieve economies of scale. Kuwait Airways now has ten A320ceo, five A330-200s, ten B777-300ERs, a single B737-900ER and a single B747-400. The carrier's future fleet additions comprise 15 A320neo, eight A330-800neo and five A350-900s.
