• 

  Lufthansa

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  LH/DLH

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport

  Year Founded:

  1953

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  Airline Group:

  Lufthansa Group

  CEO:

  Carsten Spohr

  Country:

  Germany

The A340-600 is the largest variant of the Airbus's quadjet widebody series. With all the space that the type offers compared to smaller models, airlines have included some exciting features, including, curiously, a toilet in the cargo hold. Lufthansa is one of the few carriers to offer this unique placement, but why is that?

The largest Airbus A340 variant

This stretched-fuselage version of the long-range A340 was the longest passenger aircraft in the world before Boeing launched the 747-8. It has a range of 7,800 nautical miles (14,450 km) and can carry 320-370 passengers across three classes (or 475 in all-economy). In fact, the plane was designed to be the largest-capacity Airbus model before the A380 came to the market.

Owing to the aircraft's larger size, it has a lot of space on its main (passenger) and lower (cargo) decks. Indeed, on its cargo level, the A340-600 offers an impressive 201.7 cubic meters of space. As this figure is 50 cubic meters more than other variants, like the A340-500, operators might struggle to find uses for this space.

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Why Lufthansa has toilets in the cargo hold

With all that space in the cargo hold, Lufthansa was faced with a choice. One option was to fill it with cargo for each flight. However, with so much capacity, this could potentially leave unsold space. Alternatively, it could move the toilets downstairs and place more economy class seats where the toilets were.

Aircraft require a set number of toilets per seat capacity and are almost always placed on the main deck. However, Lufthansa saw the chance to ditch the bathrooms in the economy and swap it out a downstairs area instead, increasing seat room. All five premium economy and economy toilets are down here!

However, the space is big enough for more than just a lavatory. There is also an extra galley for food and beverages, allowing the crew to prepare food and drink without disturbing passengers in usually nearby rows. Of course, carrying these carts up and down each time is impossible, so there's even a small elevator to bring them up!

During flight, Lufthansa stations a flight attendant in the galley next to the bathrooms, which is essential given the number of passengers going up and down through the flight. The crew ensures that passengers are taken care of and keeps them safe and secure in the event of an emergency. The downstairs space has a maximum limit of ten passengers, as it only has this many oxygen masks.

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Not the only airline

Lufthansa wasn't the only carrier taking advantage of Airbus's additional cargo bay capacity. The A340 was similarly not the only aircraft capable of leveraging the cargo bay, with the A330 also able to use some space below. This proved popular among a few tour operators, who focus on leisure travel rather than regular cargo contracts. Airtours International Airways, a British operator, took advantage of the setup, according to InfiniteFlight. The carrier eventually merged with Thomas Cook, and the three A330-200s followed suit (G-MDBD/-MLJL/-OMYT), which saw it fly with the travel firm and sublease out to Garuda Indonesia and others.

Pictured above, all three aircraft were parked up when Thomas Cook went bankrupt in 2019, per Planespotters.net. Sadly, that marked the end of downstairs toilets on twin-engine aircraft, with other operators using the full cargo capacity instead.

After a chance that they would be retired during the pandemic, along with the A380, Lufthansa brought back the A340-600 as demand returned. Today, nine out of the ten remaining A346s are back in the sky, giving passengers a comfortable ride and a chance to enjoy a downstairs bathroom! However, with an average of 16 years and quad-engines on the way out, these jets will be phased out as new Boeing 787s and A350s join the fleet.

Other unorthodox toilet locations

Other aircraft, like the Lockheed L-1011 'TriStar,' could turn the forward cargo area into a downstairs boarding lounge with a door and stairs. This allowed passengers to arrive at the airport, walk to the plane, and board directly from the ground. They could then enjoy refreshments before taking their seats upstairs.

While on the subject of unorthodox toilet setups, this is another area where the Lockheed TriStar is worthy of note. Indeed, as Simple Flying explored in greater detail last year, this aircraft's lavatories were arranged in a semi-circular pattern at the rear of the aircraft. They were located right beneath the air intake for the middle engine, which made for very noisy bathroom trips!

What do you think? Did you ever use the downstairs bathroom on the Lufthansa A340? Let us know in the comments.

Source: InfiniteFlight, Planespotters.net