I am really not much of a fan of the Airbus A330neo. I thought it was simply an A330 who wanted to be an A350. However, that all changed when I was able to fly in an Airbus A330-900neo, the one of Cebu Pacific. I flew from Manila to Cebu on board this bird and yes, I was actually impressed with the aircraft!
A choice between the A330-900neo and Boeing 787-10
It was in 2019 when Cebu Pacific ordered the A330-900neo, 16 of them to be exact. These were part of another huge aircraft order of 31 aircraft including 10 Airbus A321XLR and 5 A320neo. Prior to that, there were huge rumors in the aviation world that Cebu Pacific was to put in an order for more widebody aircraft. It was actually a choice between the Boeing 787-10 and the Airbus A330-900neo.
Both aircraft aircraft are somehow similar in terms of size and range. The Boeing is longer by approximately 5 meters and has a higher maximum take-off weight of 557,000lbs as compared to the A330-900neo at 534,000lbs. Near somehow.
However due to airline requirements and profile, the Airbus A330-900neo won the deal from Cebu Pacific.
No plans to fly transpacific
While the A330-900neo can fly efficiently from Manila to the US west coast (probably with a stopover in Honolulu depending on the configuration), Cebu Pacific had no plans of flying that far. With 460 all-economy seats, this was already an obvious sign that the airline will not fly the distance. Instead, Cebu Pacific will utilize these new widebody jets for congested airports with high demand. Instead of requesting for two slots utilizing an A321, why not just one slot utilizing an A330neo! Currently, Cebu Pacific flies their A330neo to Dubai and Australia. Well sometimes, they use it for regionals and even domestic flights.
Elegant interiors, ample legroom
I was lucky that the aircraft utilized for my Manila to Cebu trip was an A330neo. I was hearing many things like 460 seats will result to harsh legroom and so on. I wanted to see things for myself.
When I get on the plane which was RP-C3901, I was impressed with the new interiors. A very refreshing sight indeed. According to Cebu Pacific, the new interior design will be used at all aircraft to be delivered. For me, it blended well with the new refreshing livery of the airline. Those Recaro seats were ultra-thin, but definitely not flimsy. According to a video of Pilot Talk Show, every part of the cabin was intricately designed to well represent the airline’s branding!
Legroom honestly was not bad. I stand 5’8″ and somehow big in size. Legroom and knee room were actually comfortable. Of course, you can’t compare this to those of full-service carriers but I am glad Cebu Pacific still thought of this comfort. Every seat too had USB charging ports.
My only issue though was shoulder room. I think it would be somehow a problem if two huge guys would be sitting beside each other. Other than that, things were comfortable enough for regionals and long haul flights that are 10 hours away.
What a quiet aircraft!
I am used to the noise of a typical A33-300, particularly those with Rolls Royce Trent 700 turbofan engines. However, an A330-900neo utilizes the newer Rolls Royce TR7000 turbofan engines! It has a thrust of 72,834lbf per engine, giving the A330neo a range of 13,334km.
During take-off, the aircraft was very quiet. Its spool-up engine note is similar to that of the A350’s Rolls Royce Trent XWB and Boeing 777’s GE90-115B turbofan engines! However comparing this to the previous generation A330-300, this A330neo is really quiet!
The A330-900 shares the same fuselage with the A330-300
The first generation of A330s were the A330-300 and A330-200 wherein the latter is shorter by 15.9ft, but has greater range. The A330neo variants comprises of the A330-800 and A330-900. The A330-800 shares the fuselage with the A330-200 and the A330-900 shares the same fuselage with the A330-300.
Cebu Pacific’s A330-900neo jets are not an addition to the existing A33-300 fleet. Instead, the A330neos are set to replace all A330-300s. The goal is to have all of them by 2027 together with the remaining A321neos and A320neos set to be delivered. By then, Cebu Pacific should be operating an all-Airbus NEO fleet comprising of 16 A330-900neo, 32 A321neo, and 10 A320neo.
As for the 10 A321XLR, Cebu Pacific is thinking to convert them. To what aircraft? I still don’t know.
All-in-all, the Cebu Pacific Airbus A330-900neo did impress me due to its quietness and of course, the look of its new wing profile. I believe Cebu Pacific did make a perfect choice when they chose the A330neo. Not as expensive as the A350 but the perfect aircraft for Cebu Pacific’s operational requirements!
If you want to watch my whole flight experience, just click on the video below.
First love never dies. I fell in love with airplanes and aviation when I was a kid. My dream was to become a pilot, but destiny led me to another path: to be an aviation digital media content creator and a small business owner. My passion for aviation inspires me to bring you quality content through my website and social accounts. Aviation is indeed in my blood and blog!
