Assembly of Saudi Arabian Airlines’ first A330 Regional is well under way at the Airbus final assembly line (FAL) in Toulouse, France.

The aircraft is the first of 20 A330-300 Regional that will join the airline’s fleet, making Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) the first carrier in the world to operate the new Airbus A330-300 Regional.

The airplane is now in the initial fuselage section joining phase and will move to the next assembly station for wing junction, start of cabin installation and first power-on.

The A330-300 Regional is optimized to seat up to 400 passengers on missions up to 3,000 nm and offers significant cost savings through a reduced operational weight of around 200 tonnes. The reduction in fuel burn per seat and maintenance costs will result in an overall cost reduction by up to 26 per cent compared with today’s long-range A330-300.

In addition, the A330 Regional benefits from the latest A350 XWB and A380 technologies.

Specially designed for regional and domestic operations, the A330 Regional will boost capacity on several of Saudi Arabian Airlines most in-demand routes, enabling the airline to generate additional efficiencies while offering its passengers unprecedented comfort with the widest regional cabin in the sky, said the statement.

In addition to the 20 A330-300 Regional, Saudi Arabian Airlines will add 30 A320ceo to its fast growing fleet.