Aircalin

MUST SEE! A330 Aircalin Paradise Bird Business Class Noumea to Sydney! [AirClips full flight series]

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• published: 17 Jun 2016
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Société Aircalin, also known as Air Calédonie International, is a French airline and is the international airline of New Caledonia located in the South Pacific west of Vanuatu. It also operates domestic services in Wallis and Futuna. Including Wallis and Futuna, it operates scheduled services to twelve destinations in Oceania and Asia, including Japan. Its main base is La Tontouta International Airport. It is headquartered in Nouméa. Nouméa is the capital city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian (Wallisians, Futunians, Tahitians), Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians, Ni-Vanuatu and Kanaks that work in one of the South Pacific's most industrialised cities. The city lies on a protected deepwater harbour which serves as the chief port for New Caledonia. The Aircalin company commenced operations in 1983 and uses a fleet of Airbus A330-200, A320 and Twin Otter airplanes today. The airline is owned by Caisse d'Epargne Group (72%), Agence pour la Desserte aerienne de Nouvelle Caledonie (27%) and others, including staff (1%). It has 500 employees (at December 2015). The A330-200 is a shortened, longer-range variant, which entered service in 1998 with Korean Air. Typical range with 253 passengers in a three-class configuration is 13,400 km (7,240 nmi; 8,330 mi). The A330-200 is ten fuselage frames shorter than the original −300, with a length of 58.82 m (193 ft 0 in). To compensate for the smaller moment arm of the shorter fuselage, the vertical stabiliser height of the −200 was increased by 104 cm (40.9 in). The −200's wing was also modified; structural strengthening of the wing allowed the maximum takeoff weight of the −200 to be increased to 229.8 tonnes (507,000 lb). The −200 is offered with three engine types similar to those found on the −300, namely the General Electric CF6-80E, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, or Rolls-Royce Trent 700.Airbus also boosted fuel capacity to 139,100 L (36,700 US gal) by adding the centre section fuel tank, standard in the A340. A new vertical stabilizer was introduced in 2004 beginning with MSN 555. This newer fin is shorter in height by 50 cm (20 in)and was derived from the design of the vertical stabilizer of the A340-500 and -600, later becoming standard on all new A330-200. In 2008, Airbus released plans for a higher gross weight version of the A330-200 to more effectively compete against the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The new-build A330-200HGW had a 5 tonne increase in Maximum Takeoff Weight, allowing a 560 kilometres (302 nmi; 348 mi) range increase and a 3.4 tonnes (7,500 lb) payload increase. Korean Air became the first customer on 27 February 2009 with an order for six −200HGWs. Deliveries of the first aircraft started in 2010. In mid-2012, Airbus proposed another version of the −200 with the maximum gross weight increased by 2 t to 240 t. This version will have its range extended by 270 nmi and will carry 2.5 t more payload. It will see engine and aerodynamic improvements reducing its fuel burn by about 2%. It is planned to enter the service by mid-2015. In November 2012, it was announced that the gross weight is to be further increased to 242 t with the range extended by 350 nmi (over 238 t version). As of May 2016, 645 of the −200 had been ordered, 586 of which had been delivered, with 578 aircraft in operation. The 2015 list price is $229 million. The −200 competes with the Boeing 767-300ER and to a lesser extent the 767-400ER as well as with new 787 Dreamliner. The A330-200 is also available as an ultra-long-range corporate jet as the A330-200 Prestige.