The Airbus A340 has been a popular aircraft with many people, although it is sadly now on the decline. The A340-600 was the second most delivered of the A340 variants, and the longest airliner until the Boeing 747-8 was launched. This high capacity proved popular, even though the use of four engines soon led to the type's decline.

Developing the A340

We will first take a look at where the A340-600 came from. Airbus launched the joint A330 and A340 program in 1987, following considerations about whether to develop a twin-engine or a four-engine widebody. Different airlines wanted different things. There was interest in the efficiency of a twin, but ETOPS rules at the time meant many airlines still wanted a quadjet for transoceanic flights.

Developing two aircraft together would meet the needs of both sets of customers, and there would be cost savings through the joint design. They shared the same basic fuselage and wing design and many structural components and systems, as well as a common flight deck.

The A340 took its first flight in October 1991, with the first aircraft delivered to launch customer Lufthansa in February 1993. Airbus offered two variants at launch. The A340-200 was the shortest variant of the series, offering a typical two-class capacity of 303. The A340-300 stretched the fuselage and increased capacity to 335.

Larger variants

Two more variants were later introduced. The A340-500 and -600 were developed in the late 1990s (and first flew in 2001) as higher capacity and increased range upgrades. The A340-500 offered a slight stretch over the -300 but a vast improvement in range. It offered the highest range of any aircraft until beaten by the A350-900ULR.

The A340-600 instead focused on capacity. It stretched the fuselage a full 12 meters over the A340-500, taking typical capacity up to 370. It could accommodate 475 in high-density single-class seating, but no operator has pushed it that far.

Is it the longest aircraft?

With its stretched fuselage, the A340-600 reaches a lengthy 75.36 meters, based on data from Airbus. The A340-600 was the longest aircraft in service (beating both the A380 and the Boeing 747-400) until the launch of the Boeing 747-8.

The 747-8 took over when it was launched, with a length of 76.3 meters. And the new twinjet Boeing 777X will beat both of them when it enters service, which after several announcements of postponements, is currently set to happen in 2025. The 777-9 will be the longest commercial aircraft ever built, with a length of 76.72 meters.

Longer has been more popular

There has been some recent notable activity for the A340-600. Late last year, Cuba's leader Miguel Díaz-Canel took an international tour with a Conviasa unit. He visited Algeria, Russia, Turkey, and China onboard the aircraft.

Moreover, it kicked off the new year in strong fashion, with Lufthansa sharing that it was reactivating five more -600s. The flag carrier of Germany noted that the demand for first class cabins had been higher than anticipated amid the reintroduction.

There has been plenty of discussion about the A340 and whether it was a success or a failure for Airbus. It may not have had the large sales numbers to immediately make it look successful, but it served an important role for many airlines at the time (even if it is less popular now). Furthermore, developing it alongside the A330 also helped to justify its limited sales.

One thing is clear from the sales data - the two longer variants were more popular. Of the initial two variants, Airbus delivered just 28 A340-200 aircraft, as opposed to 218 A340-300 aircraft. It was the same with the subsequent variants. Airbus delivered 97 A340-600 aircraft, as opposed to just 32 A340-500s.

What are your thoughts about the Airbus A340? What do you make of the overall history of the type? Let us know what you think of the plane and its operations in the comment section.

Source: Airbus