A look at Airbus’s delivery and order tables for September shows a column with extremely low numbers when compared to the more than 6,700 A321s ordered.
There are only 12 aircraft ordered, of which seven have been delivered. But what is this model that no one wants?
We are talking about the A330-800neo, a widebody smaller than its brother A330-900, and which stands out for its enormous range, of up to 8,150 nm (15,094 km).
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Although it is the replacement for the successful A330-200 and can carry between 220 and 260 passengers in mixed classes, the A330-800 has attracted almost no interest after ten years of its launch. And the short list of customers could lose one of them.
According to Aviation Week, Garuda Indonesia, which had an order for four aircraft, has reportedly cancelled its deal with Airbus in favour of leasing other widebodies.
The Indonesian carrier had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) in 2019 to operate the A330-800 amid orders for the A330-900.
According to the manufacturer, there were 12 firm orders for the A330-900 from Garuda, of which only three were delivered, all in 2019.
Only one aircraft pending delivery
If confirmed, the cancellation will mean that the A330-800 will now have only eight aircraft on order, of which seven have already been delivered.
Kuwait Airways is its largest customer, with four aircraft received in 2020 and 2022. Uganda Airlines has two other A330-800s and Air Greenland has a single aircraft, the last of which was delivered in December 2022.
There is still one aircraft pending from an unidentified customer, according to Airbus.
The A330-800 is not considered a bad product, but it may offer something that airlines do not currently need, namely a very long range.
Since the A330-900 carries more passengers and also flies longer distances, the larger variant has been preferred, with 344 orders as of September.
Even the giant A380 found more customers than the A330-800 and was still considered a commercial failure.
