A340

The Airbus A340 is a long-range, four-engine, wide-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The A340 was assembled at Toulouse, France. It seats up to 375 passengers in the standard variants and 440 in the stretched -600 series. Depending on the model, it has a range of between 6,700 to 9,000 nautical miles (12,400 to 16,700 km). The A340 is similar in design to the twin-engined A330 with which it was concurrently designed. Its distinguishing features are four high-bypass turbofan engines and three-bogie main landing gears.

Airbus manufactured the A340 in four fuselage lengths. The initial variant, A340-300, which entered service in 1993, measured 59.39 metres (194.8 ft). The shorter -200 was developed next, and the A340-600 was a 15.91 metres (52.2 ft) stretch of the -200. The -600 was developed alongside the shorter A340-500, which would become the longest-ranged commercial airliner until the arrival of the Boeing 777-200LR. The two initial models were powered by the CFM56-5C, rated at 151 kilonewtons(34,000 lbf), while Rolls-Royce held exclusive powerplant rights to the extended-ranged and heavier -500 and -600 models, through the 267-kilonewton (60,000 lbf) Rolls-Royce Trent 500. The initial A340-200 and -300 variants share the fuselage and wing of the A330, while the -500 and -600 are longer and have larger wings.^[4]

Launch customers Lufthansa and Air France placed the A340 into service in March 1993. As of September 2011, 379 orders had been placed (not including private operators), of which 375 were delivered. The most common type were the A340-300 model, with 218 aircraft delivered. Lufthansa is the biggest operator of the A340, having acquired 59 aircraft. The A340 is used on long-haul, trans-oceanic routes due to its immunity from ETOPS; however, with reliability and fuel efficiency in engines improving, airlines are starting to phase out the type in favour of more economical twinjets, such as the A330 and the Boeing 777. Airbus announced on 10 November 2011 that A340 production had been concluded. The A340 is to be succeeded by larger variants of the Airbus A350.[1]

A345

A343

A342

A346

A380

A380-800

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airlinermanufactured by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner, and the airports at which it operates have upgraded facilities to accommodate it. It was initially named Airbus A3XX and designed to challenge Boeing's monopoly in the large-aircraft market. The A380 made its first flight on 27 April 2005 and entered commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines.

The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage, with a width equivalent to a wide-body aircraft. This gives the A380-800's cabin 478 square metres (5,145.1 sq ft) of usable floor space, 40% more than the next largest airliner, the Boeing 747-8,^[4] and provides seating for 525 people in a typical three-class configuration or up to 853 people in an all-economy class configuration. The A380-800 has a design range of 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km), sufficient to fly nonstop from Dallas to Sydney, and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (about 900 km/h, 560 mph or 490 kn at cruising altitude).

As of March 2015, Airbus had received 317 firm orders and delivered 156 aircraft; Emirates has the most A380s on order with 140 and 58 delivered.^[2]

747

The Boeing 747 is a jet airliner. It is made by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Boeing 747 has more than one aisle, which means it is a wide-body aircraft. It is often called the Jumbo Jet or Queen of the Skies. The Boeing 747 is one of the easiest planes in the world to recognise.^[4] It was the first wide-body aircraft ever made. The first type of 747 was two and a half times the size of the Boeing 707.^[5] The Boeing 747 made its first flight for an airline in 1970. The 747 could carry more passengers than any other aircraft for 37 years, until the Airbus A380 was made.^[6]

The 747 is a double deck plane. It can carry passengers, cargo and many other things. Boeing designed the 747's upper deck to be a first class lounge or just extra seats. They also designed the upper deck so that the aircraft could be changed into a cargo plane easily. This was done by removing seats and putting in a cargo door at the front of the plane. Boeing did this because they thought that supersonic airliners would become much more popular than the 747 and other subsonic airliners. However, they thought that subsonic cargo planes would always be popular.^[7] It was thought that the 747 would become unpopular after 400 were sold.^[8]However, 1,000 planes had been made by 1993, so it stayed popular.^[9] By September 2012, 1,448 aircraft had been built. 81 747-8s were still waiting to be built.^[2]

The 747-400 is one of the fastest airliners being used today. It usually flies at Mach 0.85–0.855 (up to 570 mph, 920 km/h). It can fly for 7,260 nautical miles (8,350 mi or 13,450 km).^[10] The newest version of the 747, the 747-8, is now being made.

The 747 will be replaced by the Boeing Y3 (part of the Boeing Yellowstone Project) eventually.

 747-400

747-100

747-200

747-300

Boeing747

747-8I