The first Airbus A330-900neo of Cebu Pacific Air took its first flight on Wednesday at France’s Toulouse–Blagnac Airport.
MSN 2001, soon registered as RP-C3900, departed from Airbus’ Toulouse facility at 8:13 pm PHT. The almost 4-hour test flight ended as it landed back at the airport at 11:54 pm PHT.
On September 21, MSN 2001 also completed its first engine run and taxi-check prior to its scheduled first flight. Based on aviation data and logging website AIB Family Flights, the aircraft was first spotted sporting Cebu Pacific’s livery on August 16.
According to industry sources, RP-C3900 will be delivered to Cebu Pacific by the end of October. The A330neo is expected to be deployed on flights from Manila to Seoul-Incheon, Tokyo-Narita, Hong Kong, and Dubai.
At the 2019 Paris Air Show, Cebu Pacific placed an order of 16 brand-new Airbus A330-900neos, 10 Airbus A321XLR, and five additional Airbus A320neo aircraft amounting to US$6.8 billion.
Although still unconfirmed, the airline has also placed an order for three more Airbus A330neos, which are untaken yet brand-new orders from AirAsia X. According to sources and corroborated by international aviation databases, MSN 1970, 1973, and 1976 are expected to join Cebu Pacific’s fleet — virtually raising the backlog to a total of 19.
Cebu Pacific’s Airbus A330neo fleet will be fitted with 460 seats in an all-economy configuration, one of the world’s densest cabin configurations there is. The airline’s current A330ceo seating capacity stands at 436, only beaten by Lion Air with 440 seats.
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