Captain's Farewell To The Airbus A340-600: Why This Quadjet Holds My Heart

Senior Virgin Atlantic training captain Chris Pohl says Lufthansa’s last Airbus A340-600 flights—planned for October 18, 2026—signal the near end of a long-haul icon. The carrier is scheduled to run final A340-600 services from Frankfurt to New York JFK and Washington Dulles, though dates could change. Pohl, who flew the A340 for 25 years and logged about 15,000 hours (half his total flying time), frames the retirement as personal. The A340 family entered service in 1993 and produced just under 380 aircraft across -200, -300, -500 and -600. Virgin Atlantic became the A340-600 launch customer in 2002.