Does anyone understand the economics of why LH favored/favors four holers?
Their A340s outnumber their A333 almost 3:1. In the first half of the 2000s, they kept adding A343s (including ex-Sabena aircraft), in the second half, they added plenty of new A346s (not to mention the B744, B748I and A380).
I understand the A346 taking up a size/range niche between the A333 and the B744 and not wanting to go B777 in order not to add another type.
But why did they keep adding A343 for a long time which have no size advantage over the A333 and probably had no range / ETOPS advantage at the time either? Many routes were and are being served by A343s that can be easily served by A333s, and type commonality would not have been a consideration.