Last year in December the Portuguese national carrier, TAP became the first airline in the world to offer its clients unbeatable economic features, greater range and efficiency and the new Airspace cabin on its first Airbus A330-900neo.
Now the airline has taken delivery of two more of the technologically advanced super-efficient Airbus A330neo aircraft powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines. The new jets also feature larger wings with 3D optimisation and new sharklets to provide the best aerodynamic performance possible. These advances are said to reduce fuel consumption by 10-12% compared to last generation aircraft of a similar size.
By the end of 2019, TAP Air Portugal is scheduled to receive another 16 Airbus A330-900neos and has configured the aircraft with 298 seats comfortably arranged across three cabin classes with 34 seats that convert to lie-flat beds in the airline’s executive cabin, 96 in economy plus and a further 168 in the standard economy cabin. The A330-900neo has the new Airspace cabin by Airbus which offers each passenger more space, bigger luggage compartments and an innovative cabin lighting system. It also enjoys the latest generation in-flight entertainment and connectivity, including wi-fi. TAP is also the first to offer unlimited text messages via wi-fi to all passengers at absolutely no cost on transatlantic flights on its A330-900neo’s.
TAP is part way through a massive fleet expansion and renewal programme that will see the carrier take delivery of 37 new aircraft by the end of this year, and 71 by the end of 2025, ensuring the airline has one of the most modern fleets in the world.
This fleet renewal and expansion has enabled the company to announce more flights and new destinations. In North America, new destinations include San Francisco, Washington and Chicago. These compliment the carries other North American services from its Lisbon home base to New York JFK, New York Newark, Boston and Miami. It also offers flights from Porto to Toronto and New York / New Jersey Newark.
“I am delighted to welcome the Airbus A330-900 into our expanding fleet. Its unbeatable economics and efficiency will power our business forward,“ said Antonoaldo Neves, TAP Air Portugal CEO. on the arrival of the first of the type in November 2019. “The A330neo will give us a lot of operational flexibility thanks to its commonality with the other Airbus aircraft in our fleet. This aircraft will be the first equipped with the new Airspace cabin, which is a new concept shaped to meet TAP’s ambition to offer the best product in the industry to our passengers,“ he added.
Guillaume Faury, President of Airbus Commercial Aircraft previously said, “Through continuous innovations, the A330neo, our newest widebody aircraft, will offer maximum value and efficiency to our customers and superior comfort to their passengers.”
The A330 is one of the most popular widebody families ever, having received over 1,700 orders from 120 customers. More than 1,380 A330s are flying with over 128 operators worldwide. The new A330neo is the latest addition to the leading Airbus widebody family, which also includes the A350 XWB and the A380, all featuring unmatched space and comfort combined with unprecedented efficiency levels and unrivalled range capability.