Uploaded May 2019 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago

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#Airbus #A340 #PlaneSpotting

The Oldest and probably the Rarest active Airbus A340 in the World visits Chhatrapti Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai.
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Registered as F-WWAS, she was the 2nd prototype of the Airbus A340 program. She flew for the first time on 3rd Feb, 1992 and was testbed for many years. She was also used by Airbus to promote the Airbus A340 model at aviation shows and airports around the world.
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She was delivered to Virgin Atlantic in May 1997 as G-VHOL and operated for the airline until she was withdrawn from use in June 2011.
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She was returned to her lessor GMT Holdings in September as M-YRGU and was later delivered to Iran Aseman Airlines as EP-APA in December 2011.
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Nicknamed “Persian Gulf”, this airframe is over 27 years old and the sole widebody aircraft in Iran Aseman’s fleet. She still actively flies on domestic and international routes.
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This Airbus A340-300 is powered by 4x CFM56-5C2 Engines. Each engine weighs 3,990 kg and produces ~34,000 lbf of thrust.
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On this day (4th Sept, 2018) she was operating on behalf of Iran Air as IR810/811, Tehran, Iran - Mumbai, India.
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Iran Air has operated a variety of aircraft on this route, from Boeing 747-100, Boeing 747-200, Boeing 747SP, Airbus A300, Airbus A310, Airbus A320 to their latest Airbus Airbus A321 and Airbus A330.
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But this is the first and probably the last time they have operated an aircraft of some other airline to Mumbai International Airport.
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Hats off to all the maintenance engineers who have kept her in excellent condition over the years. Hope she keeps flying for many more years and keeps visiting Mumbai Airport. :)



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More info on the Airbus A340 :

The Airbus A340 is a long-range, four-engine, wide-body commercial passenger jet airliner that was developed and produced by the European aerospace company Airbus.
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The A340 was assembled in Toulouse, France. It seats up to 375 passengers in the standard variants and 440 in the stretched A340-600 series.
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Depending on the model, it has a range of 6,700 to 9,000 nautical miles (12,400 to 16,700 km; 7,700 to 10,400 mi). Its distinguishing features are four high-bypass turbofan engines and three leg main landing gear.
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The A340 was manufactured in four fuselage lengths. The initial variant, A340-300, which entered service in 1993, measured 63.69 metres (209.0 ft).
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The shorter -200 was developed next, and the A340-600 was a 15.96 metres (52.4 ft) stretch of the -200.
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The Airbus A340-600 was developed alongside the shorter A340-500, which would become the longest-range commercial airliner until the arrival of the Boeing 777-200LR.
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The Airbus A340-200 and A340-300 models were powered by the 151 kilonewtons (34,000 lbf) CFM56-5C, while the 267-kilonewton (60,000 lbf) Rolls-Royce Trent 500 was the exclusive powerplant for the extended-range Airbus A340-500 and A340-600 models.

The initial Airbus A340-200 and A340-300 variants share the fuselage and wing of the twin-engine Airbus A330 with which it was concurrently designed. The heavier Airbus A340-500 and A340-600 are stretched and have enlarged wings.
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Launch customers Lufthansa and Air France placed the A340 into service in March 1993.
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In September 2011, 379 orders had been placed (not including private operators), of which 375 were delivered. The most common type were the A340-300 model, with 218 aircraft delivered. Lufthansa is the biggest operator of the Airbus A340, having acquired 59 aircraft.
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The A340 is used on long-haul, trans-oceanic routes due to its immunity from ETOPS restrictions; however, with reliability and fuel efficiency in engines improving, airlines have gradually phased out the type in favour of more economical twinjets of comparable capacity such as the Boeing 777, while Airbus has positioned the larger variants of the Airbus A350 as a successor.
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Airbus announced on 10 November 2011 that A340 production had been concluded.


Easy Lemon 30 Second by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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