Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Hi Fly Malta operated first A380 commercial service to Argentina on 23Jul19

Venezuelan airline Estelar wet-leased Airbus A380, 9H-MIP (c/n 006) from charter specialist Hi Fly Malta in July 2019 to temporarily replace one of its A340-300's that was undergoing heavy maintenance.  The airframe in question was originally delivered to Singapore Airlines as 9V-SKC on 11Mar08, making it one of the oldest A380's, even though it has only been in service some 12 years.  It was the first A380 to have moved from the airline that it was delivered to onto a second carrier. 

One of the main routes that Hi Fly Malta flew the A380 on for Estelar was Caracas (CCS) - Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) with the first flight on this sector arriving in the Argentine capital on 23Jul19, making it the third visit by an A380 to Argentina and first commercial service by the type to the country, the other two visits having been part of promotional tours in December 2007 and March 2012.  

Blog posting including a photo of the first visit:

https://argentina-airline-news.blogspot.com/search/label/A380

Sources: