Airbus today marked the 15th anniversary of its first A330 delivery, which opened a highly successful career for the twin-engine family of medium/long-range widebody jetliners that will continue to serve operators for years to come.
The no. 1 aircraft - an A330-300 version - was provided on 30 December 1993 to Air Inter, which operated it on the airline's high-capacity domestic route network within France. This aircraft subsequently joined the fleet of Brussels Airlines - which continues to use the milestone jetliner on regular service to numerous African destinations, accumulating a total of more than 50,000 flight hours.
There are some 250 A30-300s in service today, with more than 130 firmly-ordered aircraft still to be delivered.
He who laughs last obviously has'nt heard the bad news.