T'way Airlines Expands Operations to Europe with Reduced Aircraft Weight

A330-300 Reduced by up to 7 Tons Compared to Previous Model

T'way Air announced on the 10th that it has become possible to operate direct flights to Western Europe and some routes in the Americas using the A330-300 aircraft introduced in February last year.

Currently, there are a total of three of these aircraft, which operate to and from newly launched routes last year including Singapore, Mongolia, and Sydney. Based on accumulated data and aircraft operation performance analysis, it was found that when using the TSR route passing through Russian airspace beyond the Incheon-Sydney route, it is possible to operate flights to some parts of Western Europe nearly 10,000 km away.

[Photo by T'way Air]

The company explained that the expanded operational range is due to weight reduction achieved by using the latest lightweight seats. Instead of the conventional thick seats, the backrest part is thinner.

[Photo by T'way Air]

Configured with 347 seats (335 economy seats, 12 business seats), this aircraft is made 4 to 7 kg lighter per seat compared to the same model from other companies, making it approximately 1.7 tons lighter overall. Instead of installing an in-flight entertainment system (weighing about 4 to 5 tons per unit), it provides a service that allows passengers to download content through a partnership with the domestic online video service (OTT) Watcha and watch it onboard. Due to this structure, the standard operating weight of 130 tons for other companies is reduced by up to 7 tons.

[Photo by T'way Air]

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