After a contest with Pratt & Whitney, Airbus announced on 15 June 1997 at the Paris Air Show that it had selected the Trent 500 to power the A340-500 and -600.
Despois dun concurso con Pratt & Whitney, Airbus anuniou o 15 de xuño de 1997 no París Air Show que fora seleccionado o Trent 500 para equipar aos A340-500 e -600.