In response to evolving industry trends and the aging of its fleet, Edelweiss Air has begun retiring its Airbus A340-300 aircraft. The Swiss leisure airline recently sent the first of its five A340s, registered as HB-JMG, to Teruel Airport in Spain for long-term storage. Teruel Airport is known for storing and maintaining aircraft due to its dry climate.
According to data from ch-aviation, the retired A340 was nearly 22 years old. It joined Edelweiss Air in 2016 after serving with SWISS for 13 years. The aircraft’s final commercial flights occurred earlier this month on a route between Zürich and Mauritius, with a stopover in Seychelles. Upon returning to Zürich on October 6, Edelweiss Air commented: “With the landing in Zurich, a piece of Edelweiss history comes to an end. It has circumnavigated the globe almost 900 times, covered more than 36 million kilometers, and spent over 43,000 hours in the air.”
The A340’s last journey took place on October 13 when it departed Zürich as flight WK5134 and landed at Teruel Airport. AeroTELEGRAPH reported that pilots performed a wing wave upon arrival as a farewell gesture.
Edelweiss Air is transitioning its long-haul operations to the Airbus A350-900 model as part of a broader fleet modernization plan. The airline currently operates three A350-900s and expects three more by the end of 2026. The new twinjets are more fuel-efficient and have greater seating capacity compared to the outgoing A340s. According to aeroLOPA fleet data, Edelweiss’s A350-900s can accommodate up to 339 passengers in two classes—30 business class flatbeds and 309 economy seats (including 63 ‘Economy Max’ seats with extra legroom). The retiring A340s offered fewer seats: 27 in business class and 287 in economy.
Four Airbus A340-300s remain in Edelweiss Air’s fleet. At the time of writing, three were operational while one had recently arrived from Tampa and was on the ground in Zürich.
With this transition, Edelweiss Air aims to improve efficiency and offer more capacity on its long-haul routes.
