Airbus A340

The Airbus A340 is a long-range four-engined widebody commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Airbus S.A.S. a subsidiary of EADS. It is similar in design to the twin-engined A330.

Airbus A340
Role Wide-Body Jet airliner
National origin Multi-country origin
Manufacturer Airbus
First flight 25 October 1991
Introduction 15 March 1993 with Lufthansa
Status Not made anymore, but still used by airlines
Primary users Lufthansa
Iberia
Virgin Atlantic
South African Airways
Produced 1993-2011
Number built 377
Unit cost A340-200: US$191 million (2022)

A340-300: US$286.7 million (2022) A340-500: US$315.4 million (2022) A340-600: US$331.7 million (2022)

Developed from Airbus A300
Variants Airbus A330
Developed into Airbus A350 XWB

There are 4 variants of this model: The A340-200 (which is the shortest), the A340-300, the A340-500 and the longest one the A340-600. The A340-600 is one of the longest passenger planes in the world.

Having four engines, the A340 uses more fuel than many other aircrafts. However, that also mean it does not have to pass the ETOPS (extended range twin operations) test to fly long range.

The Airbus A340 is no longer in production as it was replaced by the more efficient Airbus A350 XWB.