Emirates begins A340-500 phase out

Emirates has withdrawn two of its ten A340-500s from service with one now being broken up for spare parts, FlightGlobal reports. According to airline president, Tim Clark, the move is a big, if necessary, move given the high cost of fuel the world-over. 

“We've taken a big hit to retire them, but [their poor economics means] there’s no point in flying them,” he said. Emirates intends to accelerate the retirement of its remaining A340-500 fleet with the primary objective being to sell them on to other willing buyers. 

However, should that fail, then they will be scrapped. The aircraft were bought from Airbus Industrie in 2004 to service Emirates' long-haul flights to the West Coast of the US and to eastern Australia. Other operators of the type include Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, AZAL Azerbaijan Airlines, Hi Fly, Kuwait Airways, Forces Aériennes Algériennes and Qatar Airways Amiri Flight.

Source: CH-Aviation