Whatever the advantages of the A340-500 are, they were not enough to make the massive long-range jet a success. The A340-500 is an ultra-long-haul airliner designed for some of the longest routes in the world and has a range of up to 9,000 nautical miles. The variant first flew in 2002, and at the time, it was the world’s longest-range commercial airliner. As a rare quadjet, the A340 went from a global-reach enabler to an uneconomic giant. By October 2023, there were no more scheduled A340-500 commercial flights.