Airbus A340 is a four engine long-range double aisle wide body aircraft manufactured by Airbus Europe. The basic design is similar to the twin engine Airbus A330, but there are two more engines and a total of four are equipped. The A340 was originally designed to compete with the Boeing 747 on long-distance routes. The A340 has less passenger capacity and is suitable for routes with less long-distance passenger capacity. But its later goal is to compete with Boeing 777 in the long-range and ultra long-range aircraft market.
Plan
In april1987, Airbus Industries decided to carry out A330 and A340 models simultaneously as one plan. The concept is that a basic fuselage has the same fuselage cross-section. With four engines as the power unit, it can provide six different configurations, covering from 250 seats to 475 seats, from regional routes to ultra long-range routes, and improve the versatility between different routes. The twin engine A330 can bring the most benefits and low operating costs from the regional route to the extended route of twin engine extended flight, while the four engine A340 provides a variety of functions on long-range and ultra long-range routes. A340 was developed in 1988. The advanced materials, systems and Avionics used have enabled Airbus to maintain a leading position in technology and innovation. These two models also retain the fuselage section design of Airbus a300/a310 series models. At the same time, the advanced avionics technology of Airbus A320 is used for reference. The A340 was designed in conjunction with the dual engine A330. The A330 and A340 models have a lot in common. 85% of the components can be used in common with each other. Similar fuselage structures are used, but the length is different. The cockpit, wing, tail, landing gear and various systems are the same, which can reduce the development cost. The development cost of the A330 and A340 models totaled US $2.5 billion (1986 currency value).
The A340 initially planned to use the super fan engine developed by IAE (International aero engines). IAE later stopped relevant development, and Airbus A340 switched to cfm56-5c engine.
First flight
In 1991, after the first flight of the A340, engineers found a potentially important defect: the strength of the wing was insufficient. In the case of high-speed cruise, carrying an outboard engine would cause the wing to bend and swing.
Put into use
According to the first flight problem, the R & D personnel specified a new solution. The solution is to add a turtle shaped uplift structure under the wing to improve the airflow near the engine hanger. The improved A340 was put into use in 1993.
Stop production
In January2006, Airbus announced the development of A340E (enhanced), an enhanced model of A340. Due to the emergence of the Boeing 777 remote model and the rising fuel price, the dual engine is superior to the four engine A340 in terms of operating cost and economy. Compared with the Boeing 777, the A340 has four engines and the reliability of the transoceanic aircraft is better. However, due to the increasing engine performance, it has no obvious advantage. Due to the extremely low failure rate of the new engine (as can be seen from the ETOPS certification of the twin engine aircraft) and the higher power output, unless it is a super large aircraft, such as Airbus A380 or Boeing 747, four engines seem unnecessary. Airlines began to favor the Boeing 777. Sales of the A340 have thus become dismal.
The sales of Boeing 777 are improving, while the orders of A340 are decreasing year by year. In 2005, Boeing had obtained orders for 154 777s, but Airbus sold only 15 a340s. Airbus claims that the fuel consumption of the A340E will be improved compared with the early A340 in order to compete more effectively with the Boeing 777.
On november10,2011, Airbus officially announced in its third quarter report that the A340 would be discontinued, and its successor model would be A350. A340 has received 379 orders from 48 customers, including 246 a340-200/300, 34 a340-500 and 97 A340-600. The A340 of Sifeng covers the 240-359 seat market, of which the A340-600 is the longest in the Airbus aircraft family. In China, a total of 19 a340s are in service in China Eastern Airlines, Air China and HNA respectively. Just when Boeing 777-300ER aircraft got the order with a market value of 26billion US dollars, creating the largest single order record in Boeing's history. On november14,2011, Airbus China announced in its official microblog that it would stop manufacturing A340 long-range aircraft, and the first delivery of A350 aircraft was delayed for 6 months.