Lufthansa’s final A340-600 flight takes off after 23 years
Dhaka: Lufthansa has wrapped up 23 years of Airbus A340-600 operations, with its final scheduled service touching down at Frankfurt Airport from Washington Dulles International on the morning of October 19.
The farewell flight, LH419, drew heavy attention from aviation enthusiasts both online and at the two airports involved. Lufthansa marked the occasion by handing passengers a souvenir booklet to commemorate the type's final journey.
According to flight-tracking data, the aircraft departed Washington Dulles at 7:08 pm on October and landed back in Frankfurt around 8:30 am the following day after a transatlantic crossing of just over seven hours.
A flight-tracking service said on social media that roughly 871,000 users followed the jet, registered D-AIHW, as it crossed the North Atlantic. Lufthansa said 267 passengers and 15 crew members were aboard.
Captain Francesco Sciortino, a member of Lufthansa's Executive Board, said the airline is looking ahead to its largest fleet modernization yet, adding that "the A340-600 is leaving, and in its place come aircraft of the latest design: quieter, more efficient, and more comfortable."
Lufthansa operated 24 A340-600s in total over the years. The final four aircraft averaged 17.7 years in age at retirement, only slightly above the airline's overall fleet average of 15.1 years.
It was not age but the arrival of more fuel-efficient aircraft that pushed the type into retirement. In its place, Lufthansa is preparing to welcome the Airbus A350-1000, having ordered 15 units to join 31 A350-900s already flying and 14 more on order.
The retirement does not mark the end of the A340 family at Lufthansa altogether. The airline still operates 11 A340-300 aircraft, ten of which remain active, while one undergoes maintenance in Frankfurt.
Scheduling data shows Lufthansa intends to keep flying its A340-300 fleet until at least September 2027, with Frankfurt-based routes serving destinations including Angola, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
