Airbus A340
; 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
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 lb
f (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.
A340-600 series
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 lb
f (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; 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.
The model was certified on
April 14,
2006, and is scheduled to be delivered to Qatar Airways later this year.
The direct Boeing equivalent is the
777-300ER.
As at
December 11,
2005:
Hull loss accidents
The A340 has not had a fatal incident to date, but it has suffered two
hull-loss accidents:
*Air France A340-211 (): On
January 20 1994, an Air France A340-211 (F-GNIA) was lost to fire during servicing at CDG.
*
Air France Flight 358: On
August 2 2005, all 297 passengers and 12 crew survived a crash and fire after their A340-300 () overshot runway 24L at
Toronto Pearson International Airport in a thunderstorm. The aircraft slid into
Etobicoke Creek and broke up. Forty three were injured, some seriously because some of the emergency slides did not operate properly. This forced some passengers to jump nearly 20 ft (6 m) to the ground.
Other incidents
*An A340-311 of
Virgin Atlantic Airways was forced to land with the right main gear retracted on
November 5 1997 at
London Heathrow Airport. When landing, the left main gear collapsed. All 100 passengers were unharmed and the aircraft was repaired within 28 days.
*The landing gear of an A340-211 of
Sabena collapsed during landing at
Brussels Airport on
August 29 1998. The right horizontal stabilizer was destroyed.
*An A340-312 of
SriLankan Airlines was destroyed on the ground by
Tamil Tiger guerrillas on
July 24 2001 at Colombo-Bandaranayake IAP,
Sri Lanka, along with 2 A330s and a squadron of military aircraft.
*An A340-313X of
Emirates ran off the runway when taking off from
Johannesburg International Airport on
April 9 2004. Both pilots were unfamiliar with this lighter variant of the Airbus. At the call to rotate, the pilot flying pulled back on the stick. However, according to a report by the airline, "for approximately six or seven seconds the aircraft nose did not move upward"
. The nose finally came up, but the aircraft still did not become airborne. The crew felt a rumbling, selected full power, and about two seconds later the aircraft lifted off the ground
. The airport says 25 runway threshold and approach lights, and part of the runway surface, were damaged as the aircraft went over the end of 21R. Apparently the calculated rotation speed (Vr) was too low, so the Airbus fly-by-wire system kept it on the ground, rather than risking an overrotation. The pilot had received incorrect rotation instructions during a simulator session. Emirates Training establishment was censured by Airbus after an investigation.
| A340-200 | A340-300 | A340-500! A340-600 | | Wingspan | 60.30 m
197 ft 1 in | 60.31 m
197 ft 10 in | 63.45 m
208 ft 2 in | 63.45 m
208 ft 2 in |
| Wing sweep | 30° | 30° | 31.1° | 31.1° |
| Length | 59.39 m
194 ft 10 in | 63.60 m
208 ft 10 in | 67.90 m
222 ft 8 in | 75.30 m
246 ft 11 in |
| Height | 16.70 m
54 ft 9 in | 16.85 m
55 ft 3 in | 17.10 m
56 ft 1 in | 17.30 m
56 ft 9 in |
| Wheelbase | 23.24 m
76 ft 3 in | 25.60 m
84 ft 0 in | 27.59 m
90 ft 6 in | 32.89 m
107 ft 11 in |
| Typical cruise speed | Mach 0.82 (875 km/h, 544 mph) | Mach 0.83 (885 km/h, 550 mph) |
| Maximum cruise speed | Mach 0.86 (917 km/h, 570 mph) | Mach 0.86 (917 km/h, 570 mph) |
| Operating range | 14,800 km
9,196 mi | 13,700 km
8,513 mi | 16,700 km
10,377 mi | 14,600 km
9,072 mi |
| Passengers (3 classes) | 239 | 295 | 313 | 380 |
Source |
Note: Cruise speeds in km/h and mph are calculated based on a cruising altitude of 10,668 m (35,000 ft).
See also:
List of aircraft*
Details on the Airbus family of aircraft*
History and pictures of the Airbus A340-300*
Aircraft-Info.net - Airbus A340-200*
Airbus A340 Production List*
A340 fan site*
How to build an Airbus A340-600 in about 340 seconds
