In extend to viewtopic.php?t=586101

CX now scheduled its final A340 service at the end of April.

Cathay Pacific in last week’s schedule update tentatively scheduled last Airbus A340-300 operation, on 30APR17. For the month of April 2017, planned A340 operation as follow.

Hong Kong – Bangkok 2 weekly until 30APR17
Hong Kong – Manila 1 weekly until 25APR17
Hong Kong – Singapore 1 weekly until 26APR17
Hong Kong – Singapore – Bangkok – Hong Kong CX759 (HKG/SIN) and CX712 (SIN/BKK/HKG), 1 daily until 30APR17
Hong Kong – Taipei Taoyuan Up to 6 weekly until 30APR17

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/air ... pril-2017/

Yet another A340 fleet will be retired soon. Not a big surprise, carrier has lots of A350s incoming.

I thought for a second these were double topics! It's been a long time coming at both airlines, but it's funny they would be scheduled for exit at the same time. The A350 is leaps and bounds more efficient than the A340, so I'm sure they're ready to get these four holers out of the fleet.

This makes it blatantly obvious that the number of A340 carriers is quickly dwindling. By my count, there will be roughly a dozen carriers left with more than a fleet of two, and only six airlines operating a fleet of ten or more. Virtually all of them have replacement plans over the next couple years, so the number of A340 operators is about to get very small very quickly.

The biggest issue with the A340 is going to be maintenance. The worldwide fleet is ageing fast, and the CFM56-5C engines are ageing with them. What benefit there might be on the capital side of the balance sheet gets eroded by the increasing costs of aircraft needing hangar time and AOG problems.

Add to that the higher trip-costs of fuel and they just don't look like a worthwhile aircraft any more. Only the relative handful of late model ones will see any kind of aftermarket and even those will be hard to place.

A CX pilot noted on a previous thread some if the earlier planes do not have not have rhe avionics Mac systems required today and cost to upgrade along with likely heavy checks is prohibitive

There is still some value in the engines, so scrapping now seems to be a good move.

The days of operating commercial aircraft beyond their late teens is rapidly disappearing. The airframes may take it, but the OEM's don't want parts inventory and product liability premiums, and the engine OEM's definitely want to move on.

The 787 and A350 are new breeds, where the ground-based admin technology support, or future lack of it, will make operating these aircraft in their 20's, other than in the hands of early operators, the exception.

Wow only about 3 months to go, that sure is quick. Glad I got to ride on a CX A343 on December 30th, 2016 but boy was that plane tired.

737max8 wrote:

Wow only about 3 months to go, that sure is quick. Glad I got to ride on a CX A343 on December 30th, 2016 but boy was that plane tired.

I was on one just two weeks ago -- I was in J, and the coffee maker overflowed and poured coffee all down the aisle. The crew was very apologetic and offered to move me to another seat.

It was somewhat interesting -- the first leg of my trip was on a CX A343, the final leg was a CX A359.

It is not as historic or well loved as the 747-400 fleet was. I'm sure they will have some sort of send off though.

Seems CX469 tomorrow will be last flight. Only B-HXJ left in fleet.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/air ... e-to-1q17/

CX747 wrote:

It is not as historic or well loved as the 747-400 fleet was.

According to whom exactly?

Strato2 wrote:

CX747 wrote:

It is not as historic or well loved as the 747-400 fleet was.

According to whom exactly?

It might show in the retirement phase. There hasn't been as much media coverage around it all. When the 747 was retired they did farewell flights and advertised about it. I don't even think they are doing anything for it. Maybe a water solute. CX outlined their last 747 service months in advance. I only just found out that the A340's last flight is tomorrow so.

They still have the A330 in their fleet, they have done a lot more it seems. The 747 was the flagship of Cathay for decades until the 777 came out. The A340 was never a flagship for them.

I'm at HKG waiting for B-HXJ pull into the gate. Booking the two final flights two days before was a doddle with plenty of reward space available. Definitely no special farewell for the A340 which has some of Cathay's Airbus pilots a bit miffed. On a side note, it doesn't look like B-HXJ has had any revenue flights in the past week or been washed in ages.

Before Xmas was looking at booking MAN-BKK with CX for a trip in May and what was tempting was that was showing the option of a CX A340 on HKG-BKK. I would have been very disappointed to lose out on it if I had booked....

I hope there is some farewell ceremony to wave off the A340. When it was introduced, it allowed CX to venture into routes that would otherwise be impossible and uneconomical to fly using other types in the fleet back in the 1990s. CX was able to experiment with destinations like Toronto or Moscow because of the A340.

I love the 340... Still got one sceduled VS flight to and from JFK planned in December....

Sadly I never got to see one live, but the A343 in CX livery looks very elegant to my eye.

When CX started flying non-stop between HKG and SFO, they started first with the A343, then eventually switched to the 744. Yes, they'll be missed, but since the A359 can do everything the A343 can do (and with lower fuel burn)....

RayChuang wrote:

When CX started flying non-stop between HKG and SFO, they started first with the A343, then eventually switched to the 744. Yes, they'll be missed, but since the A359 can do everything the A343 can do (and with lower fuel burn)....

The A340 fuel burn was actually not that bad. While the A350 burns about the same as the A330, the difference between the A330/A340 was not that much. The A350-900 is a lot more capable than the A340-300, much greater range/payload.

I have flown on the CX 342 (lsd) and 343 (own). From a pax point of view Airbus really brought about the quiet relaxing LH flight era with the 342/343. I managed to fly on LH and CX 343 in 2016, all wonderful flights on a nice relaxing plane. It will be missed by this traveller.

Less and less A340s flying. My only chance to fly one before they dissapear would be Aerolíneas Argentinas or Iberia. Shame

Flying into HKG on Wednesday, I wonder if it'll be parked up at HAECO ?

So is the A340 officially retired at CX?

HeeseokKoo wrote:

linard76 wrote:

I'm at HKG waiting for B-HXJ pull into the gate. Booking the two final flights two days before was a doddle with plenty of reward space available. Definitely no special farewell for the A340 which has some of Cathay's Airbus pilots a bit miffed. On a side note, it doesn't look like B-HXJ has had any revenue flights in the past week or been washed in ages.

Wonder if there was anything special with presumably the farewell flight or at least some announcement from cockpit. Water cannon might be great if the fleet was in such a dirty outlook.

Other than a sentimental announcement by the captain, there was no fanfare. A very quiet exit for Cathay's A340s.

Wait. I thought the flights were for the end of April. We're nowhere near the last flight yet.

teriyaki wrote:

Wait. I thought the flights were for the end of April. We're nowhere near the last flight yet.

Might be a good idea to read the thread (especially just a few posts up).

zeke wrote:

teriyaki wrote:

The last revenue flight for a CX A340 was on March 26 when B-HXJ completed CX469 from TPE to HKG. The A340 spent over two decades of service at CX as the quiet achiever doing the job it was tasked to do.

B-HXJ was the last CX A340 I flew on. I'll miss those birds, one of my first experiences with PTVs in Y.

In the late 90's and (very) early 2000's, the CX 343 had a very significant role, as the only intercontinental airliner in the CX fleet other than the 744. If the 744 was too large for the route, then 343 it was (BNE-CNS was perhaps one exception). That was until the 346s and 3-class 333s (used to Australia) were added.

Is there a Cathay fan site with this information similar to the Qantas Source?

Please keep your comments on topic otherwise the thread will be locked

I was on HXG December 30 last year from PVG to HKG. Glad I got rebooked from Dragonair to get this experience. Was my first time on the A340, luckily I get to fly SA this summer

QANTAS747-438 wrote:

Is there a Cathay fan site with this information similar to the Qantas Source?

Not that I am aware of, airlineroutes seems to
have some pretty good information.

hoons90 wrote:

In the late 90's and (very) early 2000's, the CX 343 had a very significant role, as the only intercontinental airliner in the CX fleet other than the 744. If the 744 was too large for the route, then 343 it was (BNE-CNS was perhaps one exception). That was until the 346s and 3-class 333s (used to Australia) were added.

The aircraft provided a lot of flexibility to open new thin routes, swap with the 744/77W when their capacity was not seasonally required, and adding new frequencies. Also provided crew flexibility with the A330 for sharing simulators and rosters.

Flightradar shows B-HXJ has left HKG today as CX3337. Has all CX A340s left HKG?

cchan wrote:

Flightradar shows B-HXJ has left HKG today as CX3337. Has all CX A340s left HKG?

To the best of my understanding that is correct.

Sad to see CX's A340s have all gone. I flew on B-HXE from HKG to CDG as CX279 in August 2014, my one and only A340 flight. It was a very nice aircraft to fly on.

I really miss CX's A346's. There were only 3 of them and my only ride on a A340-600 from JFK-HKG non-stop back in 2005.