Building the Airbus A-330 XTR

The A-350 XWB is basically a replacement for the discontinued A-340 airliner. As such, this leaves the A-330 as the real Airbus competitor to the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. That leaves Airbus at a disadvantage at this market segment with an older design with older engines.

Egyptair Airbus A330-200 (SU-GCI) lands at London Heathrow Aug2007 (Adrian Pingstone)

What Airbus is now trying to do is studying to upgrade the A-330 to make it more competitive at this segment with the B787 Dreamliner. See http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/airbus-to-decide-on-a330-enhancement-in-second-half-of-2012-367981/. I am calling the updated A-330 the Airbus A-330 XTR along the lines of the A-350 XWB, that can mean "Extra" capabilities, efficiencies and range.

Aside from being more competitive in its segment with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the A-330 XTR can also serve as a buffer for the A-350 XWB, as the B-767 was to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner when its introduction to operational service was delayed. It can also be a good 'payment' airliner for whatever delays that might happen.

Airbus A-320 with Aviation Partners blended winglets Dec 2008

As usual for updates like this, changes may include

1. Engine inserts. Re-engining might not be economic as it's expensive and a short production run.
2. Structural weight reduction as stated in the Flightglobal article, as A-340 reinforcements for commonality can be removed, reducing also material and possible production costs.
3. Sharklets like the Airbus A-320 modifications.
4. Aerodynamic tweaks.
5. Avionics tweaks

Assuming the market for efficient airliners remains strong, and the A-330 can be updated for this market segment requirements, we may see the Airbus A-330 XTR in the skies in the next 5 years.