Lisbon, Portugal - Portuguese flag carrier continues its fleet expansion with new deliveries. The airline has taken delivery of two new Airbus A330neo on the same day.
With the new additions, TAP now has 19 Airbus A330neo in its long-haul fleet and the type accounts the airline's 70 percent of total flight time.
The A330neo is a new generation widebody jet from Airbus, which comes in two variants, -800 and -900. Although the A330-900 is in high-demand by Airbus customers, the shorter variant A330-800 still suffers a lack of demand. The A330-900 has so far accumulated 285 orders from the airlines around the globe against the 18 of its little sister A330-800.
The A330-900s of TAP Air Portugal are equipped with the latest-generation, highly efficient Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines. New larger wings and new winglets help to increase the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft while reducing fuel consumption. TAP Air Portugal is the launch customer of the Airbus A330-900. The aircraft is configured to accommodate 298 passengers in a two-class layout. All passengers can send unlimited free text messages via wi-fi on transatlantic flights.
In 2015, the Portuguese operator planned to have 17 long-haul Airbus jets at the end of 2019, including eight NEO and nine CEO variants. However, the company opted for more new-generation NEOs because of the attractive opportunities offered by the North American and South American markets.
TAP's current long-haul fleet consists of 19 Airbus A330neo and seven Airbus A330ceo while its medium-haul fleet comprises 56 aircraft, including 19 A320neo family jets and 41 A320ceo family jets.