An old Airbus A340-300 is suffering regular technical issues raising question about reliability.
The Lufthansa 28-year-old A340 D-AIGM had severe issues from the flight Detroit – Frankfurt on Friday, October 3 2025. While departure, light in cabin was going on and off and flickering when engines idle. The aircraft went back to gate.
After, neither Lufthansa tech hotline nor local technician could help, the flight still departed Detroit with 2 hours delay to Frankfurt.
Upon landing, fire department and ambulance were standing around the plane with blue light. The aircraft again departed FRA airport to San Jose 2h delayed in the afternoon.
Previous incident
On Sep 19th 2025, that same aircraft turned around over Rotterdam and returned to Frankfurt on flight LH432 to Chicago dumping fuel for about 20 minutes. Pilots stopped the climb at only 23,000 feet and decided to shut the left engine according to The Aviation Herald.
Delivery date
The aircraft D-AIGM was delivered on 1997, after a first flight the 9 January. Introduced in the early 1990s, the Airbus A340-300 was part of Airbus’s effort to challenge Boeing’s dominance in intercontinental travel. With its four engines, wide fuselage, and exceptional range, the A340-300 became a symbol of comfort and reliability for airlines operating long routes across oceans and remote regions.
Retirement timeline
The A340-300 is among several older widebody types set for phase-out by 2028, under Lufthansa Group’s fleet modernization programme. While Lufthansa has not publicly given a precise date for the last A340-300 flight, the broader plan sets 2027 as a key year. That is, most of the retirements (for the A340-300) are expected to occur in 2027.
