There’s been plenty of commotion the past couple years with Point Loma residents irked by alleged flight-path changes negatively impacting their lifestyles from noisy airplanes from San Diego International Airport.
So it is not surprising the huge “window rattling” Lufthansa Airbuses flying low over Point Loma five afternoons a week, has caused consternation among many.
One of those is lifelong Peninsulan David Dick.
“San Diego International Airport is not suitable for these ‘jumbo jets’ – including the Airbus A340 (Lufthansa) and the 777 (daily London flights),” said Dick. “Not only is the runway barely adequate to handle one of these aircraft when fully-fueled for a non-stop trip to Europe, because they’re so loaded, they take off low and make and spread a great deal more noise,” Dick said. “The A340, in particular, is problematic due to its four engines (the same is true when BA swaps out their 777 with one of their ancient 747s).”
But not everyone has disdain for the big, noisy new plane. Point Loman Kyle Griffith, for one, actually “enjoys” the Lufthansa Airbus.
“I do, I love arcane,” said Griffith. “It’s one of the reasons we moved into this neighborhood. I like hearing them take off.”
Griffith admits to being something of an unorthodox airplane aficionado when it comes to exotic aircraft like the Airbus A340 manufactured in Toulouse, France. 
“It’s big,” said Griffith, noting the A340, “Takes off over our house (on Browning Street) going pretty low and slow. It’s just magnificent to watch.”
In mid-March, German airline Lufthansa inaugurated non-stop service between San Diego and Frankfurt. Between 3:10 and 3:30 p.m. every day except Wednesdays and Fridays, the massive plane lifts off headed home roaring over Point Loma.
The A340 seats about 375 passengers and has a range of 7,300 miles, easily traversing the 5,800 miles from San Diego to Frankfurt.
The airbus, noted Griffith, has a lower-pitched noise than a Boeing jet. “It does cause a little bit of window rattling,” he allowed.
Nonetheless, Griffith, a schoolteacher along with his wife, looks forward to Lufthansa takeoffs.
“For me, as soon as I hear it – I go outside so I can watch,” he said, adding, it’s a quick thrill because a Lufthansa flyover “only lasts 30 seconds, a minute max.”
Of his predilection for the massive Lufthansa Airbus, Griffith said, “I’m weird. I realize I’m the odd man out.”
For his part, Dick believes San Diego International Airport should be limited to twin-engine jets that are capable of reaching a certain climb angle immediately upon takeoff, just like the innumerable 737s and A320s. “For these long-haul flights, that would limit the airlines to using the 787 or A350,” he said.
San Diego International Airport is owned and operated by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. In 2015, traffic at San Diego International exceeded 20 million passengers, serving more than 500 scheduled operations carrying about 50,000 passengers daily. 
While primarily serving domestic traffic, San Diego now has nonstop international flights to Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
San Diego International Airport is the busiest, single-runway airport in the United States, and the third-busiest single runway in the world, behind Mumbai and London Gatwick. 
Due to the airport’s short usable-runway, close proximity to the skyscrapers of downtown San Diego, and steep landing approach as a result of the nearby Peninsular ranges, San Diego International Airport has been called “the busiest, most difficult single runway in the world.”  Airbus A340 The Airbus A340 is a long-range, four-engine, wide-body commercial passenger jet airliner that was developed and produced by the European aerospace company Airbus. It seats up to 375 passengers in the standard variants and 440 in the stretched 600 series. Depending on the model, it has a range of 6,700 to 9,000 nautical miles. Its distinguishing features are four high-bypass turbofan engines and three-bogie main landing gear.
At 198 feet long, the wingspan is similar to that of the larger Boeing 747-200. Each wing also has a 9 foot tall winglet instead of the wingtip fences found on earlier Airbus aircraft.
Customers Lufthansa and Air France placed the A340 into service in March 1993.