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Originally Posted by thewave46
I'm mostly curious as to what advantages the A350 would offer over the A330neo. The A350 has longer legs and its advantage with fuel efficiency increases as flight distance increases, but Air Transat is mostly doing Eastern Canada to Europe flying. That's stuff that a narrowbody aircraft can do these days. Hardly pushing the edges of distance there.
For Transat's network, the A330neo offers a pretty good package. The A350 seems more expensive for marginal benefit.
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You're right. The real benefit of the A330-900neo, more than anything else, is the fact that it's 30t lighter than the A359. The A359 is built for ULH missions in mind (8,300nm range for the standard version), and as such, has wings and weight to account for that, which are things that TS doesn't need. On that aspect alone, TS would be saving money, as ATC and airport fees are based on aircraft MTOW, regardless of how full a flight is. This being said, the A330-900 has a decent range as well (7,200nm), almost as much as the B787-8. So it's nothing to scoff at.
Of course, there is also the A330-800neo, with even more range, almost as much as the A359, but that variant isn't selling well at all, and I don't think TS would go for it.
If this rumor is indeed about TS, then I am sure they are looking at both aircraft. The OP did mention "sniffing around". Doesn't mean they will choose the A350. They're simply "kicking its tires" so to speak, and having a look.
However, there are several reasons as to why the A359 would make more sense than the A330-900neo, especially if TS has aspirations to widen its network beyond Europe. (And it certainly looks that way, considering they are launching LIM in South America and RAK in Africa, so both those continents seem like fair game for expansion)
For one, the A350 is the most advanced widebody commercial airliner out there. Also, the list price of the A330-900neo and A350-900 are almost the same. $296 million vs $317 million.
So, the question is, do you settle for the A330neo, or just for a little extra more, do you buy the biggest, badest toy out there.