HistoryAirbus' new aircraft was launched in 1988, as a long-range complement to the short-range A320 and the medium-range A300. At the time the newest long-range widebody, the twinjet Boeing 767, was at a disadvantage against aircraft such as the 747 because of the ETOPS problem: two-engined aircraft have to stay within close range of emergency airfields in case one of their engines malfunctions. The four-engined A340 design was an attempt to make a new-generation competitor for ETOPS-immune aircraft like the Boeing 747.