Airbus A340-600
The stretched flagship — for nearly nine years the world's longest airliner · First flight 2001 · In service 2002
The A340-600 is the largest A340 and the high-capacity partner of the -500. It pairs the same enlarged 63.45 m wing and Rolls-Royce Trent 500-series engines (Trent 556) with a much longer fuselage — 75.36 m — giving room for 320–370 passengers in three classes, a capacity Airbus pitched against early Boeing 747s.
It flew for the first time on 23 April 2001 and entered service with launch customer Virgin Atlantic in summer 2002. Lufthansa, Iberia, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific and South African Airways followed, and a heavier -600HGW raised maximum take-off weight to 380 t. In all, 97 were delivered.
From its first flight until the Boeing 747-8 took to the air in February 2010, the A340-600 was the longest commercial airliner in the world.
