Another Dying Breed: These Are The Remaining Airbus A340 Scheduled Passenger Operators

Derived from the Airbus A300, the Airbus A340 is a four-engine wide-body passenger aircraft developed in tandem with the A330 for long-haul operations. The A340 came in four variants (the A340-200, -300, -500 and -600), with a total of 380 units being built between 1991 and 2012.

Of those 380 units, 377 were originally delivered to 38 airlines, with the most popular variant being the A340-300. There were 218 made, with the remaining 97, 34 and 28 accounting for the -600, -500 and -200 variants respectively. The 200 was the shortest in the entire family and was built to accommodate between 210 to 260 passengers, while the stretched 300 could accommodate between 250-300, but at the expense of range when compared to the 200.

Even though the 300 is a capable aircraft, it’s relatively small engines (a more powerful sister variant of the CFM56s used on Boeing 737s), and its slower climb performance in heavier conditions resulted in pilots making quite a few jokes about the aircraft. Sometimes the -300 would be referred to as the aircraft with 5 Auxiliary Power Units (APUs), or as the world’s largest regional jet.

The larger -500s and -600s featured a redesigned wing, stronger landing gear, and more powerful Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines. They were capable of extremely long missions, with the 500 variant still beating out Boeing 777s, 787s and standard Airbus 350-900s in terms of maximum range. Even though they had some impressive numbers, their economics came into question once newer long-range twin-engine aircraft gained popularity.

Like the Boeing 747, the A340s quickly lost favor as twin-engine wide-bodies (such as the Boeing 777 family) were able to perform longer overwater flights thanks to improved engine reliability, resulting in Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards (ETOPS) limits being increased over time.

Unlike the 747 family, there are a few more operators still using variants of the A340, some holding on to them because of delivery delays for newer aircraft, while others have no choice due to political roadblocks. I’ll cover the seven scheduled-service carriers still operate variants of these quad-jets, and mention in brief a few others using them for charters and VIP transport.

Conviasa

Venezuelan carrier Conviasa started with one A340-200 back in 2007. Due to sanctions against the country, they leased more A340s from other blacklisted countries starting in 2020. Over the past few years, they saw five more units, including one -200, one -300 and three -600s.

At the time of publication, there was one 200 (YV1005) and one 600 (YV3535) in active service, while another 200 and 600 were pulled offline (for maintenance, storage, who knows?) in December and mid-January respectively. Conviasa’s 600s exchanged hands many times, and last came from Iran’s Mahan Air. If you’ve seen some of the recent YouTube trip reviews, you’d notice the cabins feature the bar area installed when these jets first flew for Virgin Atlantic.

With Venezuela seeing a major shift in political control, I’m curious if the United States will be a bit more lenient by allowing them to lease more modern aircraft.

Seating configuration:

A340-200: 42 business class seats and 276 in economy.
A340-600: 48 business class seats, 38 in premium economy and 225 in economy.

Edelweiss

Swiss leisure carrier Edelweiss took delivery of five A340-300s from 2016 (hand-me-downs from SWISS of course). Currently, they are being used on long haul routes out of Zurich to destinations in North America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. At the time of posting, two of the five were phased out from service as they are transitioning to a replacement fleet of A350-900s.

Just recently they unveiled their new A350 cabin which will be introduced in December 2026.

Seating configuration:

A340-300: 27 business class seats, 76 premium economy and 211 in economy.

Kam Air

Kam Air is an Afghanistan-based airline operating out of Kabul. Like Conviasa, sanctions have forced them to favor older aircraft. They currently operate five A340-300 along with six Boeing 737-300s and one 737-500.

Seating configuration:

A340-300: 346 in an all-economy configuration.

Lufthansa

In March 1993, both Air France and Lufthansa shared the title of being launch customers for the A340-300 variant. It has played an integral role in the airline’s operations, and they also hold the title for most A340 deliveries (a total of 59), almost double that of second place Iberia which took delivery of 34 units.

Lufthansa still operates 14 -300s and five -600s mainly as a result of delivery delays affecting the upcoming Boeing 777X which still faces certification hurdles.

Seating configuration:

A340-300: 30 business class seats, 28 in premium economy and 221 in economy.
A340-600: 8 first class seats, 56 business class, 28 premium economy and 189 in economy.

Mahan Air

Iran-based Mahan Air is another carrier affected by sanctions, preventing them from acquiring newer aircraft. As a result, they have to settle for older options including A340s. Currently they operate six A340-300s and four A340-600s.

Mahan Air also operates other older models such as an almost 25-year-old Boeing 777-200ER which first flew for Singapore Airlines.

Seating configuration:

A340-300: 30 business class seats and 269 in economy.
A340-600: 42 business class seats and 276 in economy.

South African Airways

Over its 96 years in service, South African Airways (SAA) has taken delivery of a wide variety of aircraft. Even though South African progressed to newer Airbus A350s, constant political and financial turmoil forced them to give up all four units, with two going to Air Mauritius and the other two to Thai Airways.

Following its relaunch in 2021, SAA ended up with a much smaller fleet. They now have 15 Airbus A320-200s, three A330-300s and two A340-300s.

Seating configuration:

A340-300: 38 business class and 215 in economy.

SWISS International Air Lines

I guess by now you might be seeing a trend, and you’d be right in thinking that, because SWISS is yet another Lufthansa Group carrier operating Airbus A340s. Currently they operate four A340-300s which will eventually be phased out in favor of new A350-900s. So far SWISS has taken delivery of two A350s, with the first (HB-IFA) featuring their ‘Wanderlust’ livery.

Seating configuration:

A340-300: 8 first class seats, 42 business class, 21 in premium economy and 144 in economy.

A number of other A340s are still in service operating being operated by charter carriers such as AirX, Hi Fly Malta and Alpha Star. Even Azerbaijan Airlines has one A340-500 in service, but uses it solely for government missions. Many other A340s are scattered across the globe, serving as part of various government transport fleets.

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