SWISS donates last Airbus A340-300 to the Swiss Museum of Transport

Calling all aviation fans: Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and the Swiss Museum of Transport (Verkehrshaus) in Lucerne have announced a collaboration which will see the airline’s final Airbus A340-300 donated to the iconic museum.

SWISS Airbus is a “gift for Switzerland”

Ticking the Swiss Museum of Transport off your Swiss bucket list is a must for anyone who has recently moved to Switzerland, lived here a while or is just passing through. Now visitors will soon have even more of a reason to visit.

The country’s main airline has confirmed that it will donate the last Airbus A340-300 in its fleet to the museum as a “gift for Switzerland.” 

While the plane is currently still in operation and connects passengers travelling to or from a Swiss airport to several worldwide destinations, once it is retired, it will be “preserved” in the Swiss Museum of Transport. 

The long-haul aircraft has “become a familiar symbol of the Swiss fleet”, and as the four-engined plane edges closer to its final flight, it “marks the end of an era” for SWISS. The Swiss Museum of Transport wants to “permanently integrate” the aircraft into its aviation exhibition, adding a crucial part of history into the most-visited museum in Switzerland.

Project to cost millions of francs

First, however, several “complex technical, financial and regulatory issues still need to be resolved,” the SWISS press release explained. The plane weighs a hefty 125 tons and transporting it from Zurich Airport to Lucerne will be a “major logistical and technical undertaking.” 

Aside from the transportation, the museum will also need to find space for the plane, prepare the exhibition and raise funds to cover a bill which will likely spill into the millions. 

Financial and logistical plans are still in progress, so when and if the plane will make its way to Lucerne is not set in stone. The Swiss Museum of Transport and SWISS are expected to provide further updates.