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For a long time now, the clock has been ticking for Lufthansa’s remaining examples of the Airbus A340-600. While delivery delays to new widebodies have seen the stretched quadjet’s career at the Cologne-based German flag carrier and Star Alliance member be extended multiple times, it seems that an end date has been set for the type. Specifically, scheduling data suggests that Lufthansa’s A340-600s will be retired this October.
Specifically, the latest information made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows October 25, 2026, as the date when Lufthansa will operate its final flight with the Airbus A340-600. As the last Sunday in October, that just happens to be the day when the IATA Summer Schedule transitions into the IATA Winter Schedule, and is a time when many major airline schedule changes are made, such as the retirement of an aircraft.
Most Of Lufthansa’s Airbus A340-600s Are Already Inactive
According to present fleet data made available by ch-aviation, 
Lufthansa currently has a grand total of 13 units of the Airbus A340-600 in its fleet. However, only four of these are listed on the site’s database as being active at the time of writing, with the remaining nine examples already having been put into storage. These jets have an average age of 19.6 years old, compared to a fleet-wide mean figure of 14.9 years at Lufthansa.
The writing has been on the wall for Lufthansa’s A340-600s for some time, as the carrier looks to move away from quadjets and modernize its fleet with more efficient widebody twinjets. Indeed, as detailed in the video above, the type’s final C-Check took place last April, and Lufthansa was initially planning to retire it by October 2025. However, delivery delays to aircraft such as the Boeing 787 have forced it to keep the A340-600 active for longer.
Simple Flying has reached out to Lufthansa for further information regarding the retirement of its Airbus A340-600s. We will update our coverage upon receiving a statement from the German flag carrier.
The Last Few Months Of Operations
According to Cirium, Lufthansa has pencilled in a grand total of 1,669 flights with the Airbus A340-600 in 2026. All of these either start or end at its hub at 
Frankfurt Airport (FRA), and their operations are primarily restricted to long-haul transatlantic flights to and from destinations that are located in the US.
Indeed, this month, for example, the type will see daily usage on Lufthansa’s routes from Frankfurt Airport to New York John F Kennedy International (JFK) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD). However, in January 2026, JFK was the only destination that saw daily service from Lufthansa’s A340-600s, with O’Hare reduced to 21 rotations. The extra capacity freed up by this move allowed the type to also serve Boston (BOS) and Riyadh (RUH) 11 times.
As previously mentioned, October 2026 is set to be the last month of scheduled passenger operations with the Airbus A340-600 with Lufthansa as it stands. During that month, the German flag carrier has scheduled 145 flights with the type, which will operate daily rotations from Frankfurt to JFK, Riyadh, and Washington DC (IAD) from October 1 to 24. The last flight will then come on October 25, with one final service from Riyadh to Frankfurt.
Why Does Lufthansa Still Fly The Airbus A340 In 2026?
While the type provided easy access to capacity during the post-pandemic recovery, as new aircraft are delivered, the quadjet is quickly replaced.
What’s It Like On Board?
Cirium’s scheduling data shows that Lufthansa’s Airbus A340-600 widebody quadjets have a grand total of 281 seats on board. According to present fleet data made available by Seat Maps, this figure consists of eight first class suites, 56 business class flatbeds, 28 premium economy recliners, and 189 standard economy class seats. These aircraft are also notable for the fact that some of their toilets are located down below the main cabin.
The first class cabin is the only section where every seat offers direct aisle access, with these eight seats being laid out in two four-abreast rows with a 1-2-1 setup. Behind them, the business class flatbeds have an angled six-abreast (2-2-2) layout where passengers seated by the windows do not have direct aisle access. Meanwhile, the premium economy recliners have a 2-3-2 configuration, and the economy seats are eight abreast (2-4-2).
