Originally Posted by
tonywestsider
But the 340-500 is a great plane. It is so quiet and comfortable. SQ, for example, has converted their 340-500s a few years ago to all biz class and now has the range of their planes approaching 11,000 miles, if not more than the operating range of EKs 777LRs (yes, EK planes carry more pax, so therefore lower range). So carriers do what they must do to make their planes work and be competitive in the marketplace. So far SQ, TG and EY make the best use of the 340-500s, in spite of being so called failures.
SQ seems to have found a niche for the 500s, although they had to dump the premium economy to get the yields. Hopefully more rich companies/individuals will buy them up as private jets when they eventually get disposed off by mainline carriers! Always try and snap a few photos of the EK birds when flying through DXB.