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Airbus' new aircraft was launched in 1987 as a long-range complement to the short-range Airbus A320 and the medium-range A300. At the time, the newest long-range widebody (the twinjet Boeing 767) was at a disadvantage against aircraft such as the 747 because of the ETOPS problem: two-engined aircraft have to stay within close range of emergency airfields in case one of their engines malfunctions. The four-engined A340 design was an attempt to make a new-generation competitor for ETOPS-immune aircraft like the Boeing 747.
Airbus' engineers designed the A340 in parallel with the twin-engined Airbus A330: both aircraft share the same wing and similar fuselage structure, and borrow heavily from the advanced avionics developed for the A320.
Original intentions were to use the new superfan engines of IAE (International Aero Engines) in the A340 but IAE decided to stop their development and the CFMI CFM56-5C4 was used instead. When the A340 first flew in 1991 engineers noticed a potentially major design flaw in the first model: the wings were not strong enough to carry the outboard engines at cruising speed without warping and fluttering. To alleviate this an underwing bulge called the plastron was developed to fix airflow problems around the engine pylons. The modified A340 began commercial service in 19931993 is a common year starting on Friday and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003 Events January January 1 Czechoslovakia divides. Establishment of independent Slovakia and Czech Republic. with LufthansaLufthansa is the name of the largest German airline company, headquartered in Cologne. Their main base at Frankfurt International Airport in Frankfurt am Main which is also Lufthansa's primary traffic hub. The company has developed a second hub at Munich' and Air FranceBoeing 747 Air France (AFR, Compagnie Nationale Air France is the national airline of France. The company transported 43. 3 million passengers and earned 12. 53 billion Euro in revenues between April 2001 and March 2002. It has routes to 296 cities in 85.
The A340 incorporates many high-technology features such as
Initially there were two models of A340, the A340-200 and A340-300. The 200 is shorter than the 300 and has a smaller capacity, but can fly farther, making it more popular among airlines flying ultra-long-range routes. In 19971997 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Reef''. Events January January 3 NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time January 8 Mister Rogers receives a star on t, Airbus launched two lengthened variants of the A340, the long-range -500 and high-capacity -600 series. Both of these models entered airline service in 20022002 is a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). 2002 was the first palindromic year since 1991 and the last until 2112. 2002 was also designated: International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains National Science Year in the United Kingdom.