All About Airbus A340

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The Airbus A340 is a long-range four-engined widebody commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Airbus. It is similar in design to the two-engined A330. At 75.30 metres, the A340-600 model is the longest airliner in the world, exceeding the Airbus A380-800.

By the end of May 2006 a total of 389 A340s had been ordered, and 319 delivered.

The first published studies for the A340 were as the TA11 in 1981, in the November issue of Air International (coinciding with the display of the A300 at that year's Farnborough Air Show). Concept drawings of the A320 (SA 9) and A330 (TA10) were also published, along with expected performance figures by Airbus Industrie. The expansion of the range of airliners was also analysed by Roy Braybrook.

Airbus's new aircraft was launched in 1988 as a long-range complement to the short-range A320 and the medium-range A300. At the time, Airbus's twinjets were at a disadvantage against aircraft such as the Boeing 747 because of the ETOPS problem: two-engined aircraft had to stay within close range of emergency airfields in case one of their engines malfunctioned. The four-engined A340 design was a new-generation aircraft, able to fly long over-water routes.

Because of its ETOPS-immunity, Virgin Atlantic Airlines uses the motto "4 Engines 4 Long Haul," on its A340 fleet. When fuel costs rose, airlines began looking at the Boeing 777 as an alternative to the A340. As the years went by, orders for the 777 rose, while orders for the A340 began diminishing. It can be argued that, with modern engines having extremely low failure rates (as seen in the ETOPS certification of most twinjets) and increased power output, four engines are no longer necessary except for very large aircraft, such as the Airbus A380 or Boeing 747. In 2005, Airbus had only 15 orders for the A340.

Airbus' engineers designed the A340 in parallel with the twin-engined A330: both aircraft share the same wing and similar fuselage structure, and borrow heavily from the advanced avionics developed for the A320.

The original intention was to use the new superfan engines of IAE (International Aero Engines) in the A340 but IAE decided to stop their development and the CFMI CFM56-5C4 was used instead. When the A340 first flew in 1991, engineers noticed a potentially major design flaw in the first model: the wings were not strong enough to carry the outboard engines at cruising speed without warping and fluttering. To alleviate this, an underwing bulge called the plastron, named after the undershell of a tortoise, was developed to correct airflow problems around the engine pylons. The modified A340 began commercial service in 1993 with Lufthansa and Air France.

In January 2006, Airbus announced plans to develop an enhanced version of the A340, dubbed the A340E; where E stands for enhanced, because of disappointing sales in the wake of newer longer range Boeing 777s in 2005, and the rise in fuel costs that have justified twin-engine planes as being more economical to operate than four engine planes. Airbus claims that the enhanced A340 will be more fuel-efficient than earlier A340s and will allow the model to compete more effectively with the Boeing 777.

The A340 incorporates high-technology features such as

Initially Airbus offered two models of A340, the A340-200 and A340-300. The 200 was shorter than the 300 and had a smaller capacity, but could fly farther. In 1997, Airbus launched two stretched variants of the A340 with a new and larger wing, the ultra-long-range -500 and high-capacity -600 series. Both of these models entered airline service in 2002.

The A340-200, with 261 passengers in a three-class cabin layout has a range of 7,450 nautical miles (13,000 km) and, in a 239 seats configuration, has a range of up to 8,000 nautical miles (14,800 km). A shortened version of the A340-300, it is powered by four CFMI CFM56-5C engines. The A340-200 was launched in 1987 and first flew April 1, 1992.

This variant sold in small numbers and is no longer offered to customers.

This is an A340-200 based variant with additional fuel capacity giving MTOW of 275 tonnes. Its range with 232 three-class passengers is 8,100 nautical miles (15,000 km). It is powered by the 34,000 lbf (151 kN) thrust CFMI CFM56-5C4s similar to the -300E. One example was ordered by the Sultan of Brunei and built but not delivered.

Other A340-200s were later given performance improvement packages (PIPs) which helped them achieve similar gains in capability. Those aircraft are labeled A340-213X.

The A340-300 flies 295 passengers in a typical three-class cabin layout over 6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km). This is the initial version, having flown on October 25, 1991, and entered service with Lufthansa and Air France in March 1993. It is powered by four CFMI CFM56-5C engines, similar to the -200.

The direct Boeing equivalent is the 777-200ER.

The A340-313X is a heavyweight version of the A340, and was first delivered to Singapore Airlines in April 1996, though Singapore Airlines no longer operates this model. The A340-313E was first delivered to Swiss International in 2003. They have a MTOW between 271 and 275 tonnes with typical range with 295 passengers of between 7,100 and 7,300 nautical miles (13,100 km and 13,500 km). It is powered by the more powerful 34,000 lbf (151 kN) thrust CFMI CFM56-5C4s.

The A340-500 was the world's longest-range commercial airliner (the KC-10 Extender is the longest-ranged production aircraft), until the introduction of the Boeing 777-200LR "Worldliner" in early 2006. It can fly 313 passengers in a three-class cabin layout over 8,650 nautical miles (16,000 km). Singapore Airlines, for example, currently uses this model for its Newark, New Jersey-Singapore nonstop route, an 18-hour, 15,345 km journey that is the longest non-stop commercial flight in the world[1]; the airline is able to do this with a reduced cargo and passenger load, and the installation of additional fuel tanks. The A340-500 can go from London to Perth, Australia[2] It made its first flight on February 11, 2002, and was certified on December 3, 2002 with early deliveries to Emirates.

Compared with the A340-300, the -500 features a 3.3 m fuselage stretch, an enlarged wing area, massive increase in fuel capacity (around 50% over -300), slightly higher cruising speed, larger horizontal stabilizer and smaller vertical tailplane. The A340-500/-600 has taxi cameras to help the pilots during ground maneuvers. The A340-500 is powered by four 53,000 lbf (236 kN) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 553 turbofans.

The A340-500HGW (High Gross Weight) version with a range of 9,000 nm (16,700 km) and an MTOW of 380 t is being offered which would use the strengthened structure and enlarged fuel capacity of the A340-600HGW.

The direct Boeing equivalent is the 777-200LR, which entered service in February 2006.

Designed as an early-generation Boeing 747 replacement, the A340-600 flies 380 passengers in a three-class cabin layout (419 in 2 class) over 7,500 nautical miles (13,900 km). It provides similar passenger capacity to a 747 but with twice the cargo volume, and at lower trip and seat costs. First flight of the A340-600 was made on April 23, 2001. Virgin Atlantic began commercial services in August 2002. Cathay Pacific uses the plane on its nonstop service between Hong Kong and New York City (JFK).

The A340-600 is more than 10 m longer than a basic -300, making it the longest airliner in the world, more than four metres longer than a Boeing 747-400. It is powered by four 56,000 lbf (249 kN) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 556 turbofans. It also has an additional four-wheel undercarriage on the fuselage center-line to cope with the increased MTOW.

The initial seven A340-600 aircraft were delivered with overweight wings. After the A340-600 launch customer, Virgin Atlantic, elected to receive replacement aircraft, these airframes were delivered at a reduced price to Iberia Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

Airbus is introducing a "Higher Gross Weight" version of the A340-600 (dubbed A340-600HGW). It will have an MTOW of 380 tons and a range of up to 14,600 km (7,900 nm), made possible by strengthened structure, increased fuel, more powerful engines (the Rolls Royce Trent 560 instead of the Trent 556 giving it an additional 4,000 lbf of thrust per engine) and new manufacturing techniques like laser beam welding. Emirates became the launch customer when it ordered 18 at the 2003 Paris Air Show[3]; but postponed their order indefinitely in order to wait for Airbus' future plans for the A340 range to be made clear. After Emirates postponed their orders, rival Qatar Airways will take the first delivery in mid-2006. The first flight of this model was on 18 November 2005.[4] The model was certified on April 14, 2006, and is scheduled to be delivered to Qatar Airways later this year.[5]

The direct Boeing equivalent is the 777-300ER.

As at December 11, 2005:

The A340 has not had a fatal incident to date, but it has suffered two hull-loss accidents:

[8] [9] [10] [11]

Note: Cruise speeds in km/h and mph are calculated based on a cruising altitude of 10,668 m (35,000 ft).