Originally Posted by Dani
Yes, that's a fair comparison. Someone has a comparison between a 330 and a 777?
One has to understand that Airbus designed its A340 before Boeing began boosting its Etops limitations. Before that, lots of flights were economically not useful with a twin. That's why Airbus should have started selling the A330 as the standard long haul type, whith an A330-500 and even -600.
Dani
Which they could not quite have done... Airbus started with shorthaul widebody twin (A300) and continued with a somewhat longer haul twin (A310). ETOPS was very much pioneered by Airbus... but they felt that it still limited their routes and range, which is why A340 was designed.
Problem: A330 seemed to be hard to stretch. I think that the standard MTOW for A330 is 230 tons (both -200 and -300) and the MTOW for A340-200/300 is 275 tons.
I have heard rumours that it may be the landing gear/engine clearance of A330/A340 - could it be the case? That A340 could have enlarged wing and stretched body for the -500/600 version while 330 would run out of the available underwing space for expanding the two (big to begin with) engines?
A350 quotes MTOW of 245 tons to begin with. Can they expand it?
B777 has been successfully expanded to 350 tons -200LR and -300ER - with a new wing. But the old wing -200ER and -300 have appreciably lower MTOW... How does B777-200 (non-ER) OEW and fuel burn compare with A330?