Lufthansa Just Said Goodbye to the Longest Jet of Its Era

Lufthansa has retired the last Airbus A340-600 in its fleet. The final passenger flight, LH419 from Washington, D.C., carried the aircraft registered D-AIHW to Frankfurt in 8 hours and 5 minutes, landing on schedule with 267 passengers and 15 crew on board.

The type served the airline for 23 years after its first delivery on November 25, 2003. Lufthansa operated 24 of them in total, and the captain of the farewell flight, board member and Frankfurt hub manager Francesco Sciortino, said the aircraft carried more than 40 million passengers.

The A340-600 had its moments. The first aircraft, D-AIHB, was named Bremerhaven in 2004 and, at 75.30 metres, was the longest passenger aircraft in the world at the time. The type also flew CARIBIC atmospheric research missions and was the first aircraft to return to Washington after the pandemic grounding in March 2022.

Newer jets are taking over. Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 777-9 aircraft will replace the A340-600 and other retiring types, and the A340-300, A330-200 and Boeing 747-400 are also due to leave by 2027. Lufthansa has 18 Boeing 787-9s in service, with 11 more due by 2027, and expects next-generation aircraft to make up 70 percent of its long-haul fleet by 2028.

Sources: Breaking Travel News