Which airline carried the first commercial passengers on the Airbus A330neo in 2018?

TAP Air Portugal carried the first commercial passengers on the Airbus A330neo in 2018.

The Portuguese airline introduced the A330-900, the larger member of Airbus’s re-engined A330neo family, on 15 November 2018. The first commercial flight connected Lisbon with São Paulo, Brazil. TAP was the launch operator and received the first production aircraft of the type.

The A330neo combines the established A330 airframe with Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, new wings, and composite wingtip devices known as sharklets. Airbus marketed the aircraft as a more efficient long-haul wide-body jet with lower fuel consumption than earlier A330 versions.

The A330neo family consists of the A330-800 and A330-900. The -900 is longer and has attracted more orders, while the -800 is optimized for fewer passengers and longer missions. TAP’s launch flight is different from the first flight of the A330neo prototype, which took place in 2017 before the aircraft completed certification.