Aerolineas Argentinas A330-202, LV-FVH (c/n 1605), in special 2022 World Cup scheme featuring vinyl lacquer stickers with the images of Lionel Messi, other star Argentine players and the team's official Adidas game jersey at Madrid (MAD) on 12Oct22. (Photo: Lanzarote Spotter - Jesus M. de Leon)
Aerolineas Argentinas has operated several types of aircraft on its long haul / intercontinental routes, including in the jet age - the de Havilland Comet 4, Boeing 707 / 747 (200, 400 and SP) and Airbus A310 / A340, followed by the introduction of the Airbus A330 in 2013.
The airline has operated 12 A330's so far with details below:
Four Used A330-223's delivered in 2013 and 2014
Aerolineas Argentinas' first four A330's were all -223 models.
Two of these aircraft, LV-FNI (c/n 290) and LV-FNJ (c/n 300), were first delivered to SABENA in 1999 with both going on to fly for VG Airlines and Malaysia Airlines before joining Aerolineas in September 2013 and June 2014, respectively.
The other two A330-223's, LV-FNK (c/n 358) and LV-FNL (c/n 364), were originally delivered to Air Afrique in 2000 and proceeded to serve an identical sequence of operators; Calliope, Eurofly, Atlas Jet, Saudi Arabian, and Atlas Jet again before going on to Aerolineas in November and December 2013, respectively.
The A330-223's were used on the airline's long haul routes in the Americas, such as Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) to Miami (MIA), New York Kennedy (JFK), Punta Cana (PUJ) and Cancun (CUN), but they did not have enough range to fly from Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) to the European points on Aerolineas' scheduled route network, such as Madrid (MAD) and Rome-Fiumicino (FCO), with a full passenger and cargo payload. So, the airline's A340-300 fleet, which still consisted of seven airframes in 2015, continued to cover the carrier's European routes.
Four New A330-202 Deliveries directly from the Airbus Factory in 2015 and 2016
Aerolineas Argentinas placed an order with Airbus for four new factory-fresh A330-202's on 12Feb14 powered by General Electric CF6-80E1A4 engines to be delivered in 2015 and 2016. The second generation of A330's for Aerolineas had the range to fly from Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) to Rome-Fiumicino (FCO), the longest nonstop sector on the carrier's route network, enabling Aerolineas to start planning the retirement of its last A340's.
LV-FVH (c/n 1605) was delivered to Aerolineas on 28Feb15. This is the aircraft that was decorated in the special 2022 World Cup scheme pictured at the top of this posting, which also flew the Argentine national men's football / soccer team home from Doha, Qatar as the recently victorious World Champions.
LV-FVI (c/n 1623) was delivered to Aerolineas on 30Apr15.
LV-GHQ (c/n 1737) was delivered to Aerolineas on 05Aug16.
LV-GIF (c/n 1748) was delivered to Aerolineas on 02Nov16.
With the above aircraft deliveries, Aerolineas' A330 fleet stood at a total of eight aircraft.
Two Used A330-203 Deliveries in 2016 and 2017
LV-GKO (c/n 587), which was originally delivered to EVA Air of Taiwan in 2004, joined the Aerolineas fleet on 13Sep16 on lease from AirCastle.
LV-GKP (c/n 634), which was also originally delivered to EVA Air in 2004, joined the Aerolineas fleet on 10Feb17 on lease from AirCastle.
These new additions brought Aerolineas' A330 fleet to a total of ten aircraft in 2017.
This set the stage for Aerolineas to retire its final two A340-300's, LV-FPV (c/n 193) and LV-FPU (c/n 170) in December 2019 and February 2020, respectively.
Two More Used A330-202 Deliveries in 2022
LV-KAN (c/n 877), which was first delivered to TAP Air Portugal in 2007, joined the Aerolineas fleet on 13Apr22.
LV-KAO (c/n 899), which was first delivered to TAP Air Portugal in 2008, joined the Aerolineas fleet on 18Jul22.
During the same time period, Aerolineas stored its four original A330-223's LV-FNI (c/n 290), LV-FNJ (c/n 300), LV-FNK (c/n 358) and LV-FNL (c/n 364) in 2021 / 2022 and progressively returned them to their lessors with the last airframe, LV-FNK, departing the fleet in October 2022, leaving the carrier with a total fleet of eight A330-202/203 at the end of 2022.
In addition to its international long-haul destinations, Aerolineas has used its A330-200 fleet on domestic flights to heavily traveled touristic destinations, such as Bariloche (BRC), El Calafate (FTE), Puerto Iguazu (IGR), and Ushuaia (USH) during their respective high seasons.
Typical A330 utilization by Aerolineas is approx. 4,000 flight hours per aircraft, per year with an average of 9.5 hours / cycle.
Aerolineas has always operated its Buenos Aires A330 services out of Ezeiza (EZE) airport although with the extension and widening of the runway at Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) during its pandemic closure in 2020, the smaller city airport can now accommodate A330's flying to Miami (MIA), which it appears will become a reality in the coming months. To the best of your editor's knowledge, no A330 has ever taken off or landed at Aeroparque.
STOP THE PRESSES !
Aerolineas Argentinas' latest acquisition, A330-243, LV-KHT (c/n 1191) is enroute at the time of this blog posting, from the Marana (MZJ) Arizona storage facility in the United States to Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) with an expected arrival on the morning of 21May23.
Sister ship LV-KHU (c/n 1223), also an A330-243, is scheduled for delivery in the near future. Both aircraft were originally delivered to South African Airways in 2011 before being returned to lessor Air Castle in 2020. With these two new additions, Aerolineas Argentinas' A330 fleet will once again reach the peak of ten A330's that it had in 2017. This will allow the airline to increase service from Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) to Madrid (MAD) (12x/weekly) and Rome-Fiumicino (FCO) (5x/weekly) in July of this year.
Special thanks to Jesus M. de Leon for permission to use the heading photo.
Sources:
aviacionnews.com 14May20
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