The first A330-800 took off on November 6 at Blagnac in Toulouse, France at 10:31am local time, for its maiden flight taking place over south-western France. The aircraft, MSN1888, will perform the dedicated flight-physics tests required for this variant.
The A330-800’s certification development programme will last around 300 flight-test hours, paving the way for certification in 2019. Its sibling, the larger A330-900 family member, recently completed its development testing and certification programme which validated the A330neo Family’s common engines, systems, cabin and flight & ground operations.
The Rolls-Royce Trent 7000, the latest member of the Trent family of engines, has successfully powered the Airbus A330-800neo into the skies for its first test flight.
The Trent 7000 is the exclusive engine for the A330neo and the seventh in a Trent family that has now accumulated more than 125 million engine flying hours.
Chris Davie, Rolls-Royce, Programme Director - Trent 7000, said: “We are proud to power this latest version of the A330 family and congratulate Airbus on this achievement. The Trent 7000 is the latest chapter in a Trent success story and takes an outstanding aircraft to the next level of performance.”