Airbus A340-600 Marianne French Airlines

By the early 1990s, Marianne French Airlines' fleet of Boeing 747s, Airbus A300s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s were getting old, and needed to be replaced. While the Boeing 767 and 747-400 had been brought in by the airline to replace the first two, the airline was looking for a new aircraft type to replace the aging trijets. Airbus responded with the A330 and A340 families, while Boeing offered the new 777 to the airline. Marianne French Airlines had shown a lot of interest in the Airbus aircraft, and were quite keen to order some. At the same time, however, they were actively working with Boeing on the 777 program, and felt obligated to order the Americans.

The French government encouraged Marianne French Airlines to order the Airbus planes, and in 1992, the airline placed orders for 20 A330s and 15 A340s, which would be followed by an order for 777s the next year. The first A340 was delivered to the airline in April 1995, and the first A330 in November.

Then, in the late '90s, Airbus announced the next versions for the A340 program, expanding far beyond the basic -200 and -300 fleets. These models would be known as the A340-500 and A340-600. While the heavy, ultra-long-range -500 wasn't really desirable to the airline, Marianne French Airline expressed great interest in the A340-600, as it would complement the 747-400 fleet, as well as the A330 and A340-300 fleets, very well. As such, in 1999, Marianne French Airlines placed orders for 16 Airbus A340-600s, the first one of which arrived in October 2002.

Unfortunately, by the time the A340-600s started deliveries to the airline, Marianne French Airlines had placed orders for the new Boeing 777-300ER. The Boeing was more efficient, and carried a similar number of passengers. Nonetheless, Marianne French Airlines decided to keep the A340-600 orders, as the aircraft's range was quite a fair bit greater than that of the 777-300ER. The airline would end up taking all 16 of the A340-600s they ordered. As of August 2020, however, all but 2 are grounded, and are unlikely to return to the skies. The 2 still in active service have had their seats removed and been converted into temporary freighters, transporting PPE and other vital equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shown above is F-IUFE, one of the airline's first A340-600s, wearing the 2009 livery. This aircraft was delivered in May 2004, and has operated ever since. Unfortunately, this plane, like 13 of its sister ships, is sitting idle in Teruel, Spain, with its engines and windscreen covered. It is unknown if this aircraft will return to the skies, however, with rising operational costs and the more efficient A350 fleet arriving, it is looking less and less likely.

Adam, if you think the logo placement is too similar to NEA, please let me know, and I will change it.

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