I regularly see A330s descending into my sector from a cruise of FL400 down to FL270, with varying wind conditions. Most of the time they leave the descent late and I've seen a ROD in excess of 7000fpm passing FL300, or so my radar indicates. Therefore it is possible to get the aircraft to perform very well if required, plus a decent rate of climb is available if desired by ATC. This is obviously due to the A330 being a twin, as opposed to the Controllers nightmare climbing A340, which one day will cause an unwary Controller a lot of grief, as they level off or climb at 200fpm to accelerate, without notifying ATC.
PLEASE A340 drivers do the decent thing and tell ATC of a ROC less then 500fpm, like the rules state.
The best BUS for us is the minibus A319, great ROC plus high forward speed in the climb.
Regards
Night Shift
The nights are long, and the days are hard. The Gravy train has stopped.