Update – Airbus A330 & A340

Airbus Industrie has released what should be the definitive specification for its wide body airliners of the 1990s and beyond, the twin-engined, medium/long-range A330 and the very long-range, four-engined A340. As described in the May 1986 edition of Australian Aviation, both aircraft share the twin aisle fuselage of the A300/310 series, combining that with various stretches and a high degree of new techno- logy including a variable camber wing for maximum efficiency in the cruise, automatic load alleviation and the A320 cockpit with large format CRT displays, sidestick controllers and a fly by wire (FBW) control system.

The detail specifications of both aircraft has changed since last year, but the major modification is to the A340, which will now use the IAE Superfan engine in place of the IAE V2500 or CFM56 turbofans as originally proposed.

A340 Features

This four-engined very long-range transport will now be available in two basic forms, the -200 with an overall length of 59. 4m (194ft 10in) and the -300 with a length of 62. 6m (205ft 4in). With a typical international three-class layout of 262 passengers, the A340-200 will be able to travel 7700nm (14,260km) with full passenger load, the -300 with 294 passengers will be capable of stage lengths of 7100nm (13,150km).

This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.

Login

Become a Member

To continue reading the rest of this article, please login.

Username or Email

Password Forgot password?

Keep me signed in on this device.

If you check this box before you log in, you won’t have to log back into the website next time you return, even if you close your browser and come back later.

If you check the box above before you log in, you won’t have to log back into the website next time you return, even if you close your browser and come back later.

---

or

---

Login with a Passkey

To unlock all Australian Aviation magazine content and again unlimited access to our daily news and features, become a member today!
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.

PRINT

$49.95 for 1 year Become a Member

See benefits

• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website

MOST POPULAR

PRINT + DIGITAL

$99.95 for 1 year Become a Member

$179.95 for 2 years Become a Member

See benefits

• Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
• Access to the Australian Aviation app
• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
• Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
• Daily news updates via our email bulletin

DIGITAL

$5.99 Monthly Become a Member

$59.95 Annual Become a Member

See benefits

• Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
• Access to the Australian Aviation app
• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
• Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
• Daily news updates via our email bulletin

View more offers and details