Singapore Airlines A330-300 Fleet Question

[timboeing707]

Hello,

thanks for taking time to read this, apologies to the moderators if I am putting this in the wrong forum.

I am trying to find an 100% accurate fleet list of the Singapore Airlines fleet of Airbus A330-300s pertaining to which in the fleet are E versions and X versions, or neither.

I have of course been on the airline fleet websites on the internet and really just had the information they have contradicted.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Best Regards

Tim Gorman
Levin
New Zealand

[DaveReidUK]

In the good old days, you could simply look in JP Fleets and tell from the MTOW which are which.

The "E" and "X" are unofficial designations that don't appear on the Type Certificate, one (I can't remember which) indicating aircraft with the higher gross weight and centre tank.

You might be able to deduce which are which from the routes they tend to be deployed on.

[BTNH]

Seat Guru might help you can put the flight No. in the system and it will tell you the config. of the aircraft

[timboeing707]

Hello Dave,

thanks for replying to my message.

I have the information which distinguishes the difference between the "X" and the "E" versions of the A330-300 ;

X = higher gross weight, center fuel tank on A330-300
E = new systems, avionics, LCD cockpit displays, cabin fittings

I will do a bit of spying on Flightware and see where they send them too.

I am interested to know this as hopefully soon Singapore Airlines will be using A330s to Wellington from Singapore via Canberra, Australia.

Best Regards

Tim Gorman

[timboeing707]

Hello BTNH,

sorry I am not after the seating info, just the designation of the aircraft either "X' or "E" versions of the A330-300.

Best Regards

Tim Gorman

[KelvinD]

The answer seems to be available at www.airfleets.net.
This shows qty 20 of the 330-343X, qty 4 of the 330-343E and qty 6 of the plain old vanilla 330-343.
The X versions are reg 9V-STA to 9V-STY. omitting STI, STJ, STP & STS
The E versions are 9V-SSB, 9V-SSE, 9V-SSG & 9V-SSH.
See here: Singapore Airlines Fleet of A330 (Active) | Airfleets aviation
Kelvin

[DaveReidUK]

Now I'm even more confused.

If -343E indicates the higher gross weight version with the centre tank, and -343X the lower weight variant without it (or vice versa), what's a -343 with no suffix ?

[timboeing707]

Hello Kelvin,

thanks for adding to the discussion, www.airfleets.net is partly responsible for adding to my confusion as it contradicts the information on the "E" and "X" versions of the A330-300 from HugeDomains.com - RzJets.com is for sale (Rz Jets) link - http://rzjets.net/aircraft/?parentid...223&frstatus=1

I have checked airframes.org and www.planespotters.net and they don't discriminate between them either.

I am not aware of any other Airline Fleet Websites.

Best Regards

Tim Gorman

[timboeing707]

You got me confused Dave, this is the "E" and "X" difference

X = higher gross weight, center fuel tank on A330-300
E = new systems, avionics, LCD cockpit displays, cabin fittings

I understand this is the right meaning.

Regards

Tim Gorman

[ZFT]

timboeing707

I am not aware of any other Airline Fleet Websites.

AeroTransport Data Bank but it too doesn't differentiate but I concur with your understanding of the differences between the versions.

[timboeing707]

Hi ZFT,

thanks very much indeed I will check out "AeroTransport Data Bank".

Much appreciated!

Best Regards

Tim Gorman

[timboeing707]

Hello,

I have just been through the entire Singapore Airlines Airbus A330-300 fleet
on AeroTransport Data Bank, and the whole fleet came up as "-343E".
So where did the other fleet websites come up with that they had "343X" models in the fleet?
Should I trust the info on AeroTransport Data Bank above all the other websites.
Does anyone know some who works in Singapore Airlines? HELP!

Confused

Best Regards

Tim Gorman

[KelvinD]

How about a bit more confusion then?
Airbus don't seem to differentiate between one flavour of the A333 family and another. They list only A330-300 orders & deliveries.
A quote from another web site, back in 2008 shows:
"The myth of a centre fuel tank on the A333 persists, but it is false. All A333s have the same fuel capacity of around 98,000 litres vs 139,000 litres on the A332 which has the centre tank".
And another says:
"I fly both the A340-313X and the A330-343X. In our briefing cards in the aircraft log, the letter X means that the cargo hold floors in addition to facilities for handling normal baggage containers, also have additional facilities that are needed to handle dedicated and special cargo containers. We have a MTOW of 275 tonnes (A340) and 233 tonnes (A330) which are standard weights for these versions. Consequently, the X does not mean HGW".
EASA approvals also do not differentiate between the E or X.

[DaveReidUK]

Airbus don't seem to differentiate between one flavour of the A333 family and another.

Just to clarify, the certificated series of the A330-300 are:

A330-301
A330-302
A330-303
A330-321
A330-322
A330-323
A330-341
A330-342
A330-343

Within the A330-343 there are nine sub-models ("variants" in Airbus-speak), identified by 3-digit codes in the range 020 to 057 and MTOWs of either 205, 233 or 235 metric tons (apart from the 057, which is 184 tons).

Re the confusion about the centre tank, none of the A330-300s delivered to date have this, but Airbus announced a couple of years ago that it would be available as an option:

Airbus offers new 242 tonne A330 takeoff-weight capability to extend market coverage *| Airbus Press release

[KelvinD]

I recently read an item referring to Delta taking delivery in 2015 of the first of the 242 tonne model.

[timboeing707]

Hi

just an update on the Singapore Airlines Fleet, I have come to the conclusion, that Singapore Airlines A330-300s are ALL "E"'s.
I have also conclude from this their models don't have a center fuel tank.

DaveReidUK I am not sure what you mean with, "Within the A330-343 there are nine sub-models ("variants" in Airbus-speak), identified by 3-digit codes in the range 020 to 057 and MTOWs of either 205, 233 or 235 metric tons (apart from the 057, which is 184 tons)."

I have never seen on a list a Airbus A330-020 or A330-057?

I am extremely interest to know what this means.


Best Regards

Tim

[FlightDetent]

Perhaps he ment 330-343.020 to 330-343.057, nine sub-models altogether.

ADDED:
Look what I found:


There's more data you may be interested in, where that came from. The above is taken from page 15+16, fuel capacity is just next.

EASA A330 Type Certification Data Sheet.

Best regards, FD.

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by timboeing707

just an update on the Singapore Airlines Fleet, I have come to the conclusion, that Singapore Airlines A330-300s are ALL "E"'s.
I have also conclude from this their models don't have a center fuel tank.

Can't argue with the second part of that statement, although it doesn't have any bearing on the first part. As I stated in my previous post

Re the confusion about the centre tank, none of the A330-300s delivered to date have this

Originally Posted by timboeing707

DaveReidUK I am not sure what you mean with, "Within the A330-343 there are nine sub-models ("variants" in Airbus-speak), identified by 3-digit codes in the range 020 to 057 and MTOWs of either 205, 233 or 235 metric tons (apart from the 057, which is 184 tons)."

I have never seen on a list a Airbus A330-020 or A330-057?

See http://easa.europa.eu/system/files/d...4_14122015.pdf

Note that the "057", etc, are weight variants of individual aircraft series. So, for example, you can have an A330-323 Variant 054 (Page 13 of the TC) as well as an A330-343 Variant 054 (Page 15). So it's not just a case of quoting the weight variant, e.g. "A330-057" as that wouldn't identify which series an aircraft was, or the engine type.