Summary
- Lufthansa will retire its 27 A340s by 2028, reducing fleet complexity and fuel consumption.
- The US is Lufthansa’s top market for A340 operations, with about half of the type’s flights there.
- Munich will lose its only US A340 route at the end of September.
Lufthansa
is in a highly unusual but compelling position. It is the world’s largest user of the classic and exciting but aging, inefficient, and, therefore, increasingly unpopular Airbus A340 (both the A340-300 and A340-600 variants). Still, they are company-owned, paid off, and inexpensive in this sense. (It is also the top carrier globally for passenger Boeing 747s.)
Exploring Lufthansa’s schedule shows that the US is the A340’s leading destination country. The type to be phased out by 2028. While sad for the type and avgeeks, this retirement will help reduce fleet complexity, fuel consumption, and maintenance, although newer alternatives will be far more expensive ownership-wise. Catch them while you can.
Where Lufhansa’s A340s fly: US
The Star Alliance member has 17 A340-300s, averaging 24.9 years. Each aircraft has 279 seats: 30 in business, 28 in premium economy, and 221 in economy. They are relatively economy-heavy and premium-light, obviously influencing the airports to which they fly from Frankfurt, Lufthansa’s busiest hub (they do not fly from Munich).
Photo: Suparat Chairatprasert | Shutterstock
In contrast, Lufthansa’s 10 A340-600s average 17.1 years. Each aircraft has 297 seats: eight in first class, 44 in business, 32 in premium economy, and 213 in economy. It has the same number of first-class seats as the A380 and 747-8i.
Some 17.5% of the variant’s capacity is in first/business, against 10% for the smaller A340-300. Intriguingly, its A340-600s have lavatories in the cargo hold. While the -600s fly from Frankfurt and Munich, more than nine in ten flights are from Frankfurt.
Photo: Matheus Obst | Shutterstock
Examining Lufthansa’s A340 network
According to Cirium for September-December 2024, Lufthansa plans 2,107 A340-operated departures from Frankfurt/Munich. Of these, virtually one in two (49%) is to the US. The country has nearly three times the number of flights as the second most-served nation, India.
Unsurprisingly, the importance of each variant to the US varies. The country accounts for 42% of the lower-premium A340-300’s services, against 58% for the higher-premium and larger-capacity A340-600.
Photo: The Global Guy | Shutterstock
As of September 5, the latest information indicates the quadjet will be used on the following routes. Notice from the list below that Munich has only one route (to Chicago O’Hare), and that’s only temporary. After that, no other US destination is currently scheduled to welcome the A340 from Munich, but this may change later.
Again, the information is for September-December only. Several routes also have other equipment, but only A340s are mentioned. The examination does not consider 2025; that will be looked at separately.
Image: GCMap
- Frankfurt-Atlanta: up to six weekly A340-300
- Frankfurt-Boston: five weekly A340-300 alongside daily A340-600; the A340-300 ends on October 25
- Frankfurt-Chicago O’Hare: up to daily A340-300 and daily A340-600 from October 1
- Frankfurt-Dallas/Fort Worth: up to five weekly A340-300 but mainly three weekly
- Frankfurt-Denver: up to daily A340-600 from October 27
- Frankfurt-Detroit: up to six weekly A340-300, replaced by daily A340-600 from October 1-26; A340-300 returns on October 27
- Frankfurt-Los Angeles: A340-300 on September 2, 4, 7, 9, and 11 only
- Frankfurt-New York JFK: up to daily A340-300 but mainly five weekly; daily A340-600 from October 26
- Frankfurt-Seattle: six weekly A340-600 until October 26; five weekly A340-300 from October 28
- Frankfurt-Washington Dulles: four weekly A340-300 until October 25; eight weekly A340-600 until October 26
- Munich-Chicago O’Hare: six weekly A340-600 until September 30