Delta gets first '242-ton' variant of the Airbus A330

Ben Mutzabaugh | Special for USA TODAY

BLAGNAC, France -- Airbus delivered its first 242-ton variant of the A330-300 to Delta Air Lines Thursday evening at the jetmaker's headquarters in southern France.

The plane is Airbus' latest version of its A330 long-haul widebody jet, capable of flying farther and taking off with more weight than prior versions of the jet. Delta is the launch customer.

"We are very pleased to be taking delivery of the A330 242T", President Ed Bastian said during brief remarks at a press conference.

Delta says it will use the jet on both trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific routes, taking advantage of the 242T's expanded cargo-capacity and range.

Part of an order announced by the airline in September, 2013, nine more of the new-variant A330s will come to Delta during the next two years. The aircraft will be used in part to replace the carrier's aging Boeing 747 fleet.

They'll join the Delta's existing fleet of 32 A330 -200s and A330-300s, acquired in 2009 when it merged with Northwest Airlines.

Delta also has 25 next generation A330neo aircraft on order, with the first expected to deliver in 2019.

So far, Airbus says 11 airlines have ordered the 242T.

The airplane will expand the aircraft's range by up to 500 nautical miles, enabling flights up to 15 hours. Airbus says the modifications will result in up to 1% fuel burn savings over current models. And Delta adds that it expects its new A330-300s to be 15%-25% more fuel efficient per seat than the Boeing 767-300s and 747-400s they will replace.

As for the 242T variant of the A330, the incremental variant will likely be the last to be introduced on the A330, which debuted in 1994. The current generation of A330 will be replaced in late 2017 by a next-generation version of the plane, dubbed the "A330neo."

Until the introduction of the neo, however, Airbus faces a worrisome production gap for its A330 assembly line. Already, Airbus has lowered production rates for its "A330 classic" models several times -- most recently to six per month from nine. That comes as the jetmaker tries to prevent a potential stoppage in the line by delivering all of the "class A330s" that have been ordered before the "neos" come online.

Incremental improvement packages, such as the 242T, have been aimed at extending airlines' interest in the classic A330s while Airbus readies for A330neo production. So far, results to date have been mixed.

The company has also launched an A330 "regional" in 2013. That A330 variant is aimed at the rapidly ballooning Chinese domestic market, though the airplane has not yet won Airbus any orders. Executives initially said it expected as many as 200 orders, though CEO Fabrice Bregier said on Thursday that he remains confident the market will develop.

Airbus executives suggested that several A330 classic orders could be on the horizon for the upcoming Paris Air Show, set for mid-June.

Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren is a Seattle-based photojournalist and aviation writer and a contributor to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. You also can follow Jeremy on Twitter at @photoJDL.