Lufthansa to decommission all A340-600s

Lufthansa will temporarily decommission the entire Airbus A340-600 fleet over the next 2-3 months. Three jets have already been parked at Teruel, Spain.

These 17 aircraft will not be operating regular scheduled services for at least 1 - 1.5 years. A decision on the future use of the aircraft or a possible reactivation of a maximum of 10 aircraft will be taken at a later stage in time.

Impacted by the coronavirus crisis, airlines have stored large parts of their fleets. When using their home base is not possible, or not sufficient, carriers rely on other locations, such as Teruel (TEV) or Chateauroux (CHR) airports, that house storage and dismantling facilities.

“With around 240 days of sunshine a year and little rainfall, the region [of Teruel] is particularly suitable for parked aircraft,” said Lufthansa in a statement.

Lacking space in Heathrow, British Airways also used the Spanish airport, which is the largest European storing facility, to store at least five of its Boeing 747 jumbo jets. As for its A380s, they were sent to Châteauroux for the next six months at least.