Airbus' latest A340 version, the A340-600, has been granted the same pilot type rating as the in-service A340-300 model after joint evaluation by three leading airworthiness authorities, enabling pilots to fly either aircraft type with a single license endorsement. This major milestone was achieved in March.
This is the first time that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) and Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) jointly conduct the operational evaluation of a new aircraft. The evaluation consisted in a detailed comparison of the A340-300 and the A340-600 in terms of handling, systems, and procedures. Both aircraft were flown by the three authorities' pilots to assess any differences in handling qualities.
The A340-600, currently completing its certification campaign, therefore joins the existing A330/A340 Family. The benefits result in considerable savings for Airbus operators. They cover pilots' qualification, a brief ground-based familiarization course instead of a full training, and extend to recurrent training, recent experience and line check, as well as Mixed Fleet Flying (the ability of a pilot to fly two aircraft types).
The same type rating demonstration is scheduled to be demonstrated in September to the joint official team for the ultra-long-range A340-500, the A340-600's stablemate, which is also pursuing its certification campaign.
The A330/A340 Family includes the A330-200, a 253-seat aircraft with a range of up to 12,300km/6,650nm, the A330-300 which carries 295 passengers up to 10,400km/5,600nm, the A340-300, which carries 295 passengers up to 13,700km/7,400nm, the ultra-long range A340-500, a 313-seat aircraft with a range of up to 16,000km/8,650nm, and the A340-600, which carries 380 passengers 13,900km/7,500nm. Both new A340 versions are powered by Trent 500 engines from Rolls-Royce.
Headquartered in Toulouse, France, Airbus is a global organization with design and manufacturing facilities in France, Germany, the UK, and Spain as well as fully owned subsidiaries in the U.S., China and Japan. Airbus is an EADS joint Company with BAE Systems.
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Airbus' A340-600 Granted Same Type Rating As A340-300
