Editing Airbus A340 (section)

=== End of production ===
In 2005, 155 B777s were ordered against 15 A340s: twin engine [[ETOPS]] restrictions were overcome by lower operating costs compared to quad jets and the relaxation of ETOPS requirements for the A330, 777, and other twin jets.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aviationtoday.com/regions/weur/3348.html |work= Aviation Today |title= A340-300 & B777-200ER Current & Residual Values 'On Watch' Status |date= 23 January 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150429135614/http://www.aviationtoday.com/regions/weur/3348.html |archive-date= 29 April 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2007, Airbus predicted that another 127 A340 aircraft would likely be produced through 2016, the projected end of production.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://aviationweek.com/awin/airbus-a340-4 |title= Airbus A340 |work= [[Aviation Week & Space Technology]] |date= 29 October 2007 |page= 63 |url-access= subscription}}</ref>

In 2011, the unit cost of an A340-300 was US$238.0M (${{inflation|USD|238|2011|r=1}}M today), US$261.8M for an A340-500 (${{inflation|USD|261.8|2011|r=1}}M today) and US$275.4M for an A340-600 (${{inflation|USD|275.4|2011|r=1}}M today).<ref name="A_price">{{cite web|url= http://speednews.com/documentaccess/1682.pdf |title= Airbus aircraft 2011 average list prices |publisher= Airbus |date= January 2011}}</ref>
On 10 November 2011, Airbus announced the end of the A340 program, stating that all firm orders were delivered.<ref>[http://aviationweek.com/awin/airbus-delays-a350-900-terminates-a340-program "Airbus Delays A350-900, Terminates A340."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121003322/http://aviationweek.com/awin/airbus-delays-a350-900-terminates-a340-program |date=21 January 2016 }} ''Aviation Week'', 10 November 2011. "The company also announced that it is terminating the A340 program, which has not seen any sales recently. All of the 246 Airbus A340-200s and −300s are delivered. Airbus lists 133 orders and 129 deliveries for the A340-500/600 program."</ref> The decision to terminate the program came as A340-500/600 orders came to a halt, with analyst Nick Cunningham pointing out that the A340 "was too heavy and there was a big fuel burn gap between the A340 and Boeing's 777 [specifically the A340-600 against the 777-300]". Bertrand Grabowski, managing director of [[DVB Bank]], noted, "in an environment where the fuel price is high, the A340 has had no chance to compete against similar twin engines, and the current lease rates and values of this aircraft reflect the deep resistance of any airlines to continue operating it".<ref name=Flight29Nov2005/><ref name=AvWeek14nov2011/><ref name=Bloomberg10nov2011/>

As a sales incentive amid low customer demand during the [[Great Recession]], Airbus had offered buy-back guarantees to airlines that chose to procure the A340. By 2013, the resale value of an A340 declined by 30% over ten years, and both Airbus and Rolls-Royce were incurring related charges amounting to hundreds of millions of euros. Some analysts have expected the price of a flight-worthy, CFM56-powered A340 to drop below $10&nbsp;million by 2023.<ref>Compart, Andrew. "Young at Part". ''Aviation Week and Space Technology'', 15 April 2013. pp. 44–46.</ref>

Airbus could offer used A340s to airlines wishing to retire older aircraft, such as the Boeing 747{{Hyphen}}400, claiming that the cost of purchasing and maintaining a second-hand A340 with increased seating and improved engine performance reportedly compared favourably to the procurement costs of a new [[Boeing 777]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Haunted by old pledges, Airbus aims to boost A340 value|url=https://news.yahoo.com/airbus-bid-boost-a340-value-asset-guarantees-loom-204623919--sector.html|date=5 December 2013|agency=Reuters |access-date=15 December 2013}}</ref>

In 2013, as the ultra-long range market is a niche, the A340 was less attractive, with the best usage on long, thin routes from [[hot-and-high]] airports or as interim [[air charter]].<!--<ref name=leeham9dec2013/-->
A 10-year-old A340-300 had a base value of $35m and a market value of $24m, leading to $320,000/mo ($240,000–$350,000) lease rate, while a −500 is $425,000 and a −600 is leased $450,000 to $500,000 per month, versus $1.3m for a 777-300ER.<!--<ref name=leeham9dec2013/-->
The lighter A340-300 consumes 5% less fuel per trip with 300 passengers than the 312 passengers 777-200ER while the heavier A340-600 uses 12% more fuel than a 777-300ER.<ref name=leeham9dec2013>{{cite news |url= https://leehamnews.com/2013/12/08/airbus-engine-oems-make-the-case-for-a340-future/ |title=Airbus, engine OEMs make the case for A340 future – Leeham News and Comment |date=9 December 2013 |work= Leeham}}</ref>

As an effort to support the A340's resale value, Airbus has proposed reconfiguring the aircraft's interior for a single class of 475 seats. As the Trent 500 engines are half the maintenance cost of the A340, Rolls-Royce proposed a cost-reducing maintenance plan similar to the company's existing program that reduced the cost of maintaining the [[Rolls-Royce RB211|RB211]] engine powering Iberia's [[Boeing 757]] freighters. Key to these programs is the salvaging, repair and reuse of serviceable parts from retired older engines.<ref>"Weight in waiting." ''Aviation Week and Space Technology'', 14 April 2014. pp. 54–55.</ref> Airbus has positioned the larger versions of the [[Airbus A350|A350]], specifically the A350-900 and A350-1000, as the successors to the A340-500 and A340-600.

The ACJ340 is listed on the [[Airbus Corporate Jets]] website, as Airbus can convert retired A340 airliners to VIP transport configuration.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.airbus.com/aircraft/corporate-jets/acj-family/acj340.html |title= Corporate Jets > ACJ340 |publisher= Airbus |access-date= 21 April 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180418150904/http://www.airbus.com/aircraft/corporate-jets/acj-family/acj340.html |archive-date= 18 April 2018 |url-status= dead }}</ref>