Airbus 340-500

Key Design Characteristics

1. The "World Ranger" Performance:

• The defining characteristic of the A340-500 was its incredible range of approximately 8,650 nautical miles (16,000 km).
• To achieve this, it was fitted with enormous auxiliary center fuel tanks. When fully fueled for a maximum-range mission, fuel accounted for a massive percentage of the aircraft's take-off weight.

2. Engines (The Big Change):

• The biggest complaint about the earlier A340-200/-300 was that their engines were underpowered. Airbus fixed this in the second generation.
• The A340-500 was equipped with four massive Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines. These engines provided significantly more thrust, completely curing the sluggish climb performance of the earlier models.

3. Fuselage and Capacity:

• Length: The A340-500 is longer than the -300 but shorter than the massive A340-600. It is 67.9 meters (223 feet) long.
• Seating: In a standard three-class configuration, it carried roughly 313 passengers.
• The "Premium" Layouts: Because it was designed for grueling 17-19 hour flights, airlines often configured these planes luxuriously to make the journey bearable. Singapore Airlines, famously, later converted their A340-500s to an "all business class" layout with only 100 seats to save weight and extend range.

Historical Significance: The World's Longest Flight

The A340-500's place in history is secured by one specific route: Singapore Airlines Flight 21 (SQ21).

Using the A340-500, Singapore Airlines flew non-stop from Singapore (SIN) to Newark (EWR) near New York City.

• Duration: The flight took between 18 and 19 hours.
• Distance: It covered about 9,000 nautical miles (16,700 km).
• For roughly a decade, this was the longest scheduled commercial flight in the world.

Summary and Commercial Fate

The A340-500 was an engineering marvel but an economic nightmare.

It was launched just as oil prices began to skyrocket in the mid-2000s. Carrying fuel is heavy; carrying enough fuel to fly for 19 hours requires burning huge amounts of fuel just to carry the rest of the fuel.

When you combine that fuel burn with the maintenance costs of four engines, the A340-500 became prohibitively expensive to operate. It was a "niche" aircraft that only a few airlines (like Singapore, Emirates, and Thai Airways) found useful for specific flagship routes.

Ultimately, more efficient twin-engine jets like the Boeing 777-200LR and the modern Airbus A350-900ULR took over its role, being able to fly almost as far while burning significantly less fuel. Only 34 of the A340-500 model were ever built, and almost none remain in commercial service today.