Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will take delivery this year of the first 242-ton Airbus A330-300 as a launch customer. Airbus has issued this statement and photos:

Just four months after entering the Final Assembly Line, and less than two months after its maiden flight, the first 242 ton Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) variant of the A330 rolled out of the paintshop in Toulouse, France in Delta Air Lines livery.

This first, new higher weight variant of the A330-300 is powered by two GE CF6-80E1 engines and will be delivered this year to the new variant’s launch customer Delta Air Lines.

Delta Air Lines is a major Airbus widebody customer, with 32 A330 Family aircraft (11 A330-200s and 21 A330-300s) in service today and 35 more on order (25 A330-900neo and 10 A330-300). In addition, Delta has equally 25 A350-900s on order. Delta also operates 126 A320 Family aircraft (57 A319ceo, 69 A320ceo) and has 45 A321ceo on order.

The A330 242 ton MTOW is the platform for the future A330neo and offers more capability at lower operating cost with a range extended by up to 500 nautical miles and up to two percent reduced fuel consumption while also benefiting from today’s A330 operational reliability of 99.4 percent. The 242 ton MTOW is capable of flying missions up to 15 hours.

Photos: Airbus. Right now this A330-300 airframe is carrying the test registration of F-WWYX (msn 1627) and is also carrying a future fleet number of 3322.

Delta Air Lines aircraft slide show (current livery):