SriLankan Airlines (UL), the first Asian airline to operate the four-engine Airbus A340 aircraft, bad farewell to the last of its A340s after more than two decades in service, with a water gun salute upon the arrival from Chennai at the Katunayake Airport on Thursday afternoon.

The last of the seven A340, bearing the registration 4R-ADF, made its final commercial flight from Madras to Colombo today at 10.50 a.m. Thursday, and then it will be returned to its aircraft lessor.

SriLankan introduced the first A340 on September 1, 1994, at the time when it was the most sophisticated aircraft manufactured by Airbus Industrie. Over this 21-year period, a total of seven A340s have served the Airline, and were for many years the mainstay of its long haul fleet.

"The A340s played a vital role in our network expansion for the last two decades," said Suren Ratwatte, Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines.

The Airline embarked upon a wide body fleet renewal program last year, with plans to induct all new A330-300's and the new generation A350-900's to strengthen its long and medium haul operations. Sri Lankan has taken delivery of its seven 330-300s which offer the latest comforts and technology such as mood lighting, on-board Wifi connectivity, and a sophisticated inflight entertainment system.

As of now, there are approximately 220 A340s in service in the world.