Airbus A340-600: Technical Specs, Engine Details & Performance Explained

The Airbus A340-600 is one of the most distinctive four-engine widebody jets ever built. It was both the high point and the last stretch of the four-engine long-haul airliner.

Airbus launched the A340-600 in December 1997. It first flew on 23 April 2001 and entered service on 1 August 2002 with Virgin Atlantic. At 75.36 meters, it was the longest airliner in the world until the Boeing 747-8 (76.3 meters) took that record.

Airbus designed it to replace the early Boeing 747-400 and compete with the 777. It offered about 25% more cargo volume than the 747, plus lower trip costs and more seats per flight.

It features in our guide to the world's largest passenger aircraft. It is still longer than the Airbus A380, which measures 72.7 meters.

Update, October 2026: Lufthansa flew its last scheduled A340-600 passenger service on 18 October 2026. Flight LH419 left Washington Dulles that evening and landed in Frankfurt on 19 October. Reports say only Venezuela's Conviasa and Iran's Mahan Air still run the type on scheduled passenger flights.

The long fuselage shapes how the jet is flown. The tail sits close to the runway, so pilots rotate for takeoff with care.

Airbus A340-600 Key Technical Specifications

The specifications below are for an aircraft built for ultra-long-haul routes and hot-and-high airports. Figures vary slightly between Airbus, SKYbrary and other sources, so we show ranges where they differ.

Specification Category	Details
Length	75.36 m (247 ft 5 in), about 4.7 m longer than the Boeing 747-400
Wingspan	63.45 m (208 ft 2 in)
Height	17.93 m (58 ft 10 in), per Airbus
Engines	4 × Rolls-Royce Trent 556, or Trent 560 on the higher-weight version
Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW)	Up to 380,000 kg (837,800 lb) on the higher-weight version; early versions were certified at 365,000 to 368,000 kg
Range	About 13,900 km (7,500 nm) standard; up to 14,630 km (7,900 nm) higher-weight version; Airbus quotes 14,450 km (7,800 nm)
Typical Passenger Capacity	Around 320 to 380 in three classes, depending on the source and airline
Maximum Passenger Capacity	Up to 475 in a high-density layout, never used by airlines
Cruise Speed	Mach 0.82 (about 871 km/h at cruise altitude)
Maximum Speed	Mach 0.86
Service Ceiling	About 12,600 m (41,400 ft)
Cargo Volume	201.7 m³ (7,120 cu ft)
Takeoff Distance	About 3,400 m (11,200 ft) at MTOW, sea level

Its length made it the world's longest airliner from 2002 until the 747-8. It is about 4.7 meters longer than the 747-400 and about 1.6 meters longer than the Airbus A350-1000, Airbus's current largest widebody.

Engine Details: Rolls-Royce Trent 556 and Trent 560 Explained

Every A340-600 has four Rolls-Royce Trent 500 series engines, the Trent 556 or the Trent 560. The Trent 500 combines the wide-chord fan of the Trent 700 with a scaled-down core from the Trent 800.

Trent 500 Series Technical Architecture

The Trent 500 is a three-spool turbofan. Three separate shafts let the fan, the intermediate compressor and the high-pressure compressor each turn at their best speed. That improves efficiency across the flight.

Engine Specification	Trent 556 (Standard)	Trent 560 (Higher Weight)
Thrust (approximate rating)	About 250 kN (56,000 lbf)	About 275 kN (62,000 lbf)
Fan Diameter	2.47 m (97 inches)	2.47 m (97 inches)
Fan Blades	26 hollow titanium blades	26 hollow titanium blades
Bypass Ratio	About 7.5:1 at takeoff, up to 8.5:1 at cruise	About 7.5:1 at takeoff, up to 8.5:1 at cruise
Overall Pressure Ratio	About 35:1	About 35:1
Dry Weight per Engine	About 4,990 kg (11,000 lb)	About 4,990 kg (11,000 lb)

Compression and Turbine Configuration

Air first meets a single-stage wide-chord fan. It then passes through an eight-stage intermediate pressure compressor and a six-stage high-pressure compressor. The overall pressure ratio is about 35:1.

After the combustor, a single-stage high-pressure turbine drives the high-pressure compressor. A single-stage intermediate turbine drives the intermediate compressor, and a five-stage low-pressure turbine drives the fan.

Advanced Technologies

The fan blades are hollow titanium with an internal truss structure. This keeps them strong and light. There are only 26 of them, which reduces weight and upkeep compared with older designs.

Turbine blades run in gas hotter than the metal can survive on its own. Single-crystal alloys, ceramic coatings and cooling air from the compressor keep them intact. Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) manages fuel flow and engine settings automatically.

Operational Characteristics

With a cruise bypass ratio of up to 8.5:1, most of the air passes around the core. That is good propulsive efficiency for its generation, though newer engines such as those on the 777X use higher ratios.

Aerodynamics & Wing Design

The A340-600 wing grew from the A330/A340 family wing. It has a longer span than the 60.3 m wing of the A340-300, to cope with the longer fuselage, higher weight and longer range.

Wing Configuration and Loading

The wing spans 63.45 meters and has an area of about 437 square meters. A long, narrow wing gives good lift for the weight and suits long cruise.

Four engines spread weight along the wing. That helps relieve the structure compared with two heavy engines on a twin. The tips carry winglets, which cut drag on long flights. For how they work, see our explainer on winglets and sharklets.

Long-Fuselage Stability Features

The 75.36-meter fuselage needed larger tail surfaces to keep good control in pitch and yaw. Fly-by-wire controls coordinate rudder, ailerons and elevators automatically.

Range, Payload & Real-World Performance

The A340-600 was tuned for long flights with many seats and strong cargo. That choice, plus its four engines, hurt it once fuel prices rose and twin-engine jets improved.

Range Capabilities

The standard A340-600 has a range of about 13,900 km (7,500 nautical miles). The higher-weight version introduced later reaches up to 14,630 km (7,900 nautical miles), through a stronger structure and more fuel. Airbus quotes 14,450 km (7,800 nautical miles).

That range covers city pairs such as Frankfurt to Buenos Aires (about 11,500 km) and Johannesburg to New York (about 12,800 km). South African Airways flew the Johannesburg to New York route with A340-600s, among the world's longest flights at the time.

Notable A340-600 Routes	Approx. Distance	Operator
Johannesburg to New York JFK	12,830 km (6,930 nm)	South African Airways
Frankfurt to Buenos Aires	11,500 km (6,210 nm)	Lufthansa (first A340-600 service, December 2003)
London to Hong Kong	9,630 km (5,200 nm)	Virgin Atlantic
London to Los Angeles	8,760 km (4,730 nm)	Virgin Atlantic
London to New York JFK	5,540 km (2,990 nm)	Virgin Atlantic
Madrid to Mexico City	9,070 km (4,900 nm)	Iberia
Madrid to Bogotá	8,030 km (4,340 nm)	Iberia
Frankfurt to Washington Dulles	6,550 km (3,540 nm)	Lufthansa (last scheduled A340-600 flight, 18 to 19 October 2026)

Distances are great-circle figures calculated by us and rounded.

Payload Flexibility

The 201.7 cubic meter cargo hold gave about 25% more volume than the 747, which helped airlines earn from freight as well as passengers. This mattered on routes to South America and Africa, where belly cargo is a big part of revenue.

Hot-and-High Performance

Four engines gave strong climb performance at hot and high airports, where thin air cuts the thrust of every engine. Johannesburg sits at 1,694 meters, Bogotá at 2,548 meters and Mexico City at about 2,230 meters. All saw regular A340-600 flights.

Oceanic Crossing Stability

If one engine fails on a four-engine jet, three engines are left, or 75% of thrust. A twin has 50%. Rules for twins have since changed, but the extra margin gave comfort on long overwater flights.

A340-600 Fuel Burn (And Why It Eventually Lost to Twin-Engines)

Fuel use is why the four-engine airliner fell out of favor. Four engines mean more parts to maintain, more fuel burned and more overhaul cost, and twins closed the gap on range.

Comparison with Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A350-1000

The Boeing 777-300ER was the A340-600's main rival, with two GE90-115B engines. It entered service in 2004 and sold in far greater numbers. The A350-1000, which entered service in 2018, followed as the Airbus successor. Neither Airbus nor Boeing publishes a simple per-hour number we can compare directly, so the table below shows the direction only.

Aircraft	Engines	Entered Service	Fuel Use per Seat vs A340-600
A340-600	4 × Trent 556	2002	Baseline
777-300ER	2 × GE90-115B	2004	Lower, widely reported by airlines and analysts
A350-1000	2 × Trent XWB-97	2018	Lower again

Lufthansa put it plainly when it ended the type. It cited kerosene prices that had more than doubled since before the Iran war, plus labor dispute costs. It is moving to up to 30% more fuel-efficient twins such as the A350-900, A350-1000 and Boeing 787-9. It says the A350-1000 cuts fuel burn by about 25% compared with previous-generation aircraft.

Why Airlines Moved Away From Four-Engine Aircraft

ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) rules were the main reason four engines made sense for long ocean routes. Twin-engine jets had to stay within a set time of a diversion airport, first 60 minutes, then 120 and 180 as engines proved reliable. Later approvals went well beyond 180 minutes.

As those limits relaxed, the big advantage of four engines shrank. Operating two large engines costs less than four smaller ones. Maintenance, spare parts and overhaul all multiply with the engine count. For more, see our look at fuel efficiency on the 747 and A380 and why airlines retire aircraft early.

Cockpit, Avionics & Flight Deck Technology

The A340-600 uses the same fly-by-wire flight deck philosophy as the A320, A330, other A340s and, to a degree, the A380. That saves airlines with mixed Airbus fleets money on pilot training.

Flight Control Systems

Fly-by-wire replaces mechanical links between pilots and control surfaces with electronic signals. Flight control computers provide envelope protection, which stops pilots exceeding the limits for pitch, bank and speed.

Airbus fits side-stick controllers instead of control yokes. They give a clear view of the instrument panel, and Airbus says they ease pilot workload on long flights.

Glass Cockpit Configuration

The flight deck has six main display screens. There are two Primary Flight Displays, two Navigation Displays and two screens of the Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) system, which show engine data, warnings and system status.

The PFDs show attitude, speed, altitude and heading. The navigation displays show route, weather radar, traffic and terrain. ECAM uses color to rank alerts, with red for urgent action and amber for caution.

A330 Type Rating Commonality

A330 pilots can move to the A340-600 with differences training rather than a full type rating. The systems and cockpit layout are very similar, even though one has two engines and the other four.

Cabin Experience: Layout, Comfort & Airline Configurations

The 75.36-meter fuselage allowed many cabin layouts. The fuselage is 5.64 meters in outside diameter, with an internal cabin width of about 5.28 meters, the same as the A330.

Typical Cabin Configurations

Layouts varied a great deal by airline. Lufthansa's final layout, as reported, had 281 seats: 8 first class, 44 business class, 32 premium economy and 197 economy. Virgin Atlantic reported about 308 seats in four classes, including Upper Class suites at the front. Virgin marketed the jet with the line "4 engines 4 long-haul".

Typical three-class layouts held around 320 to 380 passengers. A high-density layout for 475 exists on paper, but no airline used it.

Passenger Comfort Characteristics

Economy was usually eight abreast in a 2-4-2 layout, which gives window passengers direct aisle access on most of the cabin. Some carriers used nine abreast.

The cabin altitude is about 8,000 feet, typical of an aluminum airframe of its time. Newer composite jets such as the 787 and A350 hold a lower cabin altitude of about 6,000 feet, which many passengers find less tiring.

The engines sit far out on the wings, away from the cabin.

Premium Cabin Position

The long nose section ahead of the wing let airlines put first and business class well forward, away from the engines. Smoother ride and lower noise at the front helped sell those seats.

Famous A340-600 Long Flights

The A340-600 flew some of the longest routes in commercial service, linking continents with few suitable diversion airports.

Johannesburg to New York (South African Airways)

At about 12,800 km, South African Airways' route to New York JFK was among the longest in the world during the A340-600's peak. It crossed the full Atlantic.

It suited the type. Johannesburg sits at 1,694 meters, where four engines give extra thrust margin on a hot day. SAA later retired the A340-600 fleet and offered the aircraft for sale in 2020.

London to Hong Kong (Virgin Atlantic)

Virgin Atlantic flew the A340-600 between London and Hong Kong, about 9,630 km. It was a heavy business-travel route, but the fuel bill grew as the twins arrived.

Frankfurt to Buenos Aires (Lufthansa)

Lufthansa's first A340-600 service on 15 December 2003 went from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile. The route covers about 11,500 km and needs strong payload for both passengers and cargo.

Madrid to Mexico City (Iberia)

Iberia used the A340-600 on Latin American routes such as Madrid to Mexico City, about 9,070 km. Mexico City is at roughly 2,230 meters, so the extra engine margin helped on hot days. Iberia retired its A340-600s in 2020, earlier than planned because of the pandemic.

Why the A340-600 Is Still Loved in 2026

Despite its weak sales, the A340-600 has a loyal following among aviation fans and planespotters.

Photogenic Four-Engine Symmetry

Two engines under each wing and a very long body make a shape that twins cannot copy. Photographers love it, and the type is now close to extinct on scheduled flights.

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The Last of the Long-Haul Quad-Jets

The A340-600 was the last new four-engine long-haul airliner in its size class from Airbus. The 747 and A380 are retiring or out of production, and no manufacturer is building a new quad-jet. Its end marks the close of an era much like the 747's.

Unique Technical Character

Four engines, great length and strong hot-and-high performance gave the jet its character. Fans also like the sound of four Trent 500 engines on takeoff.

Cult Following Among Spotters

Spotters follow the last aircraft, share registrations online and photograph farewell flights.

The A340-600 in 2026: Retirement and What Is Left

Lufthansa ended the A340-600 in October 2026. A handful of aircraft remain with other operators.

Lufthansa's Final A340-600 Operations

Lufthansa flew 24 A340-600s in total. The first, D-AIHB, was delivered on 25 November 2003. In April 2020 the fleet was parked, and Lufthansa announced the type's retirement in 2021. Aircraft were brought back from summer 2022 as demand recovered and new aircraft deliveries ran late.

On 16 April 2026, Lufthansa Group announced the definitive end of the type, with its last four aircraft leaving in October. The last scheduled passenger flight, LH419 from Washington Dulles to Frankfurt, ran on 18 and 19 October 2026. A smaller A340-300 took over the Washington route from 19 October.

Other Remaining Operators

Reports in October 2026 say only Conviasa in Venezuela and Mahan Air in Iran still run scheduled passenger flights with the A340-600. Germany's Universal Sky Carrier flies the type on charter and wet-lease work.

Virgin Atlantic, Iberia, South African Airways, Etihad and Qatar Airways have all retired theirs, mostly in favor of 777-300ERs, A350s and 787s. For more on why this happens, see how aircraft depreciation shapes fleet decisions.

Legacy and Historical Significance

The A340-600 held the length record for several years and showed what a stretched Airbus could do. It was most useful before ETOPS rules relaxed, when it flew routes twins could not.

Airbus delivered 97 A340-600s. In all, 377 A340-family aircraft were delivered from 1993 to 2011: 28 A340-200s, 218 A340-300s, 34 A340-500s and 97 A340-600s. The 777-300ER outsold the A340-600 by a wide margin. The lessons fed into the A350. Learn more about sustainable aviation fuel, which is part of the next step in efficiency.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Airbus A340-600

How many passengers does the Airbus A340-600 carry?

About 320 to 380 passengers in a typical three-class layout. Lufthansa reported 281 seats in its last layout, with more premium seats. A 475-seat high-density layout exists but no airline used it.

Why does the A340-600 have four engines?

When the A340 was designed, ETOPS rules limited twin-engine jets on long ocean routes. They had to stay within 60, later 120, then 180 minutes of a diversion airport. Four engines avoided those limits.

Four engines also helped at hot and high airports and gave extra margin if one engine failed. As ETOPS rules relaxed, that advantage shrank.

What engines power the A340-600?

Four Rolls-Royce Trent 556 engines, rated at about 250 kN (56,000 lbf) each. The higher-weight version uses the Trent 560, rated at about 275 kN (62,000 lbf).

Both are three-spool engines with a 2.47-meter fan, a cruise bypass ratio of up to 8.5:1 and an overall pressure ratio of about 35:1.

Is the A340-600 still in service in 2026?

Yes, but in very small numbers. Lufthansa ended scheduled service on 18 and 19 October 2026. Conviasa and Mahan Air still run it on scheduled flights, according to reports from October 2026. Universal Sky Carrier uses it for charter and wet lease.

Why did airlines stop buying four-engine aircraft?

ETOPS expansion removed the main reason for four engines on ocean routes. Twins like the 777-300ER and A350-1000 also use less fuel per seat and cost less to maintain. When fuel prices rise, the gap shows up in the numbers fast.

Which airlines still fly the A340-600?

Conviasa in Venezuela and Mahan Air in Iran operate scheduled passenger flights with the type, according to reports in October 2026. Check recent news before planning a trip to ride one. Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, Iberia, South African Airways, Etihad and Qatar Airways no longer do.

Conclusion: The A340-600's Complex Legacy

The A340-600 was an engineering success and a commercial miss. It was the longest airliner for years, and it opened routes that twins could not fly at the time.

It arrived just as ETOPS rules relaxed and fuel prices rose. The 777-300ER and, later, the A350 beat it on cost. Its sunset on Lufthansa's Frankfurt routes in October 2026 closed the era of the four-engine long-haul passenger jet in regular service.

Compare it with its replacements in our guides to the Boeing 777X vs Airbus A350-1000 and the 787 Dreamliner vs A350 XWB.

Sources: Airbus A340 family information; SKYbrary; Rolls-Royce Trent 500 data; Wikipedia, Airbus A340 article (variant data, production totals); AeroCorner, 17 October 2026; One Mile at a Time and Travel Extra (Lufthansa retirement, October 2026); ch-aviation (Qatar Airways); Airline Geeks (South African Airways, 2020); trade press on Iberia's 2020 retirement.