TOP 10 airlines by number of flights operated with Airbus A340 / Airbus A340, less and less on long-haul flights

Airbus A340 is a subsonic, four-engine passenger plane (4 engines), dedicated to long-haul flights. Production of the model began in June 1987, but the first models were delivered in 1993 to Lufthansa and Air France. 380 A340 aircraft were built.

After more than 30 years since the first A340 was built, this model is on the retirement list of all airline operators. Aircraft with 4 engines they are replaced by new models with 2 engines, which are much more cost effective.

Airbus A340, increasingly rare on long-haul flights

The OAG presented some interesting figures. According to the report, Airbus A340 had its moment of glory in 2008, when operating over 206000 flight sectors. That meant about 560 daily flights operated by the global Airbus A340 fleet. 2008 was also the year when 43 of airlines had at least one Airbus A340 aircraft in the fleet.

After the 2008 the decline began. More and more air carriers have decided to opt out of this model, opting for long-haul twin-engine airplanes.

At present, Lufthansa has the largest fleet of A340 aircraft. The German carrier has 15 x A340-300 and 17 x A340-600 in operational service. For 2019, it has scheduled over 145000 flights with A340. According to the OAG report, Lufthansa operates a quarter of all scheduled flights with A340, globally.

TOP 10 airlines by number of flights operated with Airbus A340

There are still 40 airlines with A340 in the fleets, but the first 10 are able to cover over 80% of flights with this model, and below you have a list of them.

If you want an onboard Airbus A340 experience, it's time to hurry. The situation is irreversible, with an increasing number of A340 planes being scheduled for retirement.

Most Airbus A340 aircraft can be found in the Lufthansa fleet (32 aircraft). Iberia owns 17 A340-600 aircraft and South African Airways has 16 A340 aircraft. Scandinavian Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Virgin Atlantic and Swiss International Air Lines also own several A340 aircraft. You have to choose.

For aviation photography enthusiasts, we should mention that most flights operated by A340 are from / to Frankfurt International Airport (5594 flights), followed by Barajas International Airport, Madrid, with 4572 flights.