I’m looking at flights for a trip to Europe next spring (Prague, Vienna and Munich) and was looking at a new “flagship” flight Delta is offering for the Airbus 350. It’s not much more money, just that the flight time is a bit later, which may not be a problem as I’ll have three small children with me. I’ve never flown on anything but 330 and wanted to know the difference. Will it be worth the little bit extra money and later flight time? I’ll also be flying Delta One and they say there’s more amenities on this plane (not sure what else you could want). Figured some of you world travelers and folks in the know like Palumboism could answer the question. Thanks.
Airbus never used to be strong competition for Boeing in the twin isle market. The A330 just wasn't as good an airplane as the 787 and 777. It's really more on par with the 767, an airplane that first flew in 1981. That all changed with the A350, which is very compatible to the 787. Right now the 787 and A350 are the most advance aircraft because they carbon fiber and clean sheet designs.
In addition the A350 will have a 3,3,3 seating configuration while the A330 will have a 2,4,2 configuration. One of these configurations might work better for your family. The interior for the A350 is more modern.
Airbus has a 700 airplane backlog for the A350 and 270 airplane backlog for the A330neo. Which means airlines strongly prefer the A350. In addition, the A330 was launched in 1994 and the A350 was launched in 2015, so It's like comparing a 1994 car to a 2015 car. The largest customer for the A330neo is Air Asia, an extremely low cost Asian airline. Even Hawaiian airlines canceled their order for the A330 in exchange for the 787 -9. Even more embarrassing is the A330neo 800 has zero orders and it's in flight testing right now.
I personally would go for the A350, but I'm not sure the average passenger would know or care about the differences between the aircraft.
