We are very proud to have realised this upcycling project of the Airbus A340 3B-NDB together with Air Mauritius.
Nowadays, it is very unusual for an aircraft to remain with an airline for its entire life - but this was the case with this aircraft. 3B-NBD was delivered in 1997 and remained in service until 2021. Christened "Parakeet" - a beautiful tropical bird native to the island - it carried millions of satisfied guests.
At the end of the last millennium, completely new routes could be opened with the help of the Airbus A340. It was smaller and lighter than a B747 and had 4 economical engines. At that time, the big advantage over twin engine aircraft was that the A340 had no ETOPS restrictions, meaning, it could fly further away from possible alternate airports and therefore fly more economically. Over time, however, engines have become more and more reliable, and that advantage was lost.
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These circumstances led to the retirement of the A340s from Air Mauritius, which are now being replaced by modern and more economical A350s. 3B-NBDs last flight was in July 2021 to Twente, where it was finally dismantled. We are very happy we could give this beauty a second life.
