What happened
Lufthansa will fly its last A340-600 passenger service as LH419 from Washington Dulles to Frankfurt on 18 October 2026, arriving the morning of 19 October after 23 years with the type. The airline took delivery of 24 of the stretched jets between 2003 and 2008 and operated them in four classes including First, with a 2-4-2 economy cabin.
The jet was nicknamed The Pencil and was once the longest airliner in the world, with lower-deck lavatories and a crew rest. The fleet sat in storage in Spain through the pandemic and returned from March 2022 after long-haul deliveries slipped, including Allegris cabin issues. A340-300s stay in the Lufthansa fleet, including on the Washington route, with retirement expected in 2027. After this flight, scheduled A340-600 service is expected to remain only at Conviasa and Mahan Air.
Points travellers lose a four-engine, four-class Lufthansa long-haul aircraft, and the A340-600 becomes almost impossible to fly outside Iran and Venezuela. Bookings on the type end with LH419, and anyone still after a four-engine Lufthansa long-haul should watch the A340-300s that remain into 2027.
- Ends
- Oct 18, 2026
- Numbers
- 23 years: length of A340-600 service at Lufthansa
- 24 aircraft: A340-600s Lufthansa took delivery of
- 2-4-2 seat layout: A340-600 economy cabin configuration
- 2027 year: expected retirement of remaining Lufthansa A340-300s
- Where
- Washington Dulles (IAD), Frankfurt (FRA)
- Takeaway
- There is nothing left to book on Lufthansa’s A340-600 after LH419; anyone who still wants a four-engine Lufthansa long-haul flight should watch remaining A340-300s into 2027.