What Happened To The Airbus A340-8000?

Question

I was looking at the Airbus site using WayBack Machine (archive.org).

I looked at it for the year 1996 and on Airbus' site they state that Singapore Airlines Ordered an Airbus A340-8000.

Is the A340-8000 just the development name for the A340-500/600?

Answer 1

It was an idea for a derivative of the A340, but was never developed, only one was produced and if remember very well it is currently owned by a Sultan and used as a private jet.

Answer 2

are we about to enter 1997 or we have left 1997 behind?

Answer 3

It appears as if there was only one A340-8000 made and it was an ultra-long-range version of the A340-200.  Airbus later abandoned the idea and instead started producing the A340-500, which is also an Ultra-Long-Range derivative of the original A340.  So it appears that you are more or less correct.  The one A340-8000 was sold to the Saudi Arabian VIP department.

Answer 4

It was produced as an ultra long range version of the a340-400. Many airlines expressed interest in the aircraft, however it did not preform as expected. The worlds only a340-8000 is currently owned by Lufthansa and is in a storage hanger in Germany.  I think that this would have surely had a place in someones fleet, but I guess not. Hope that helps. Cheers