Saudi Arabian Airlines takes delivery of first A330-300 Regional

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) announced (18-Aug-2016) it took delivery of the first A330-300 Regional from Airbus, making it the launch customer for the new member of the A330 family. Saudi ordered 20 A330-300 Regional aircraft at the 2015 Paris Airshow. The design is optimised for regional and domestic missions of up to five hours/2700nm and offers cost savings through a reduced operational weight of around 200 tons. Airbus projects the reduction in fuel burn per seat and MRO costs will result in an overall cost reduction of around 20% compared with a long-range A330-300. Saudia will use the A330 Regional to boost capacity on several high demand routes. The A330-300 Regional offers a low cost and simple fleet addition, due to its high commonality with the A330s already operated by the airline. Saudi Arabian Airlines will lease the A330-300 Regional fleet from International Air Finance Corporation. [more - original PR]