Airbus records its 1,000th delivery as the A330 goes from Cinderella to princess

Airbus delivered its 1,000th A330 on 18-Jul-2013, with the special liveried aircraft going to Cathay Pacific Airways. This is the first time that Airbus has surpassed the 1,000 aircraft milestone for a widebody programme and was cause for some celebration at the company. Its main competitor Boeing has already reached the same milestone for the 767, 747 and 777 and in all likelihood the 787 will pass the 1,000 deliveries mark by the middle of next decade.

After two decades of service, the A330's popularity shows little sign of diminishing, even in the face of new widebody programmes such as the A350 and Boeing 787. In Apr-2013, A330 programme head Patrick Piedrafita said more than 800 sales have been logged since Boeing launched the 787 "validating the A330's sustained competitiveness."