Aerolneas Argentinas (AR, Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery) has placed up for sale its final A340-200, LV-ZRA (msn 85), which has been in storage at Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini since its retirement from commercial service in 2014.
The quadjet was first delivered to Cathay Pacific in 1995. (CX, Hong Kong International). After brief spells with Hong Kong Airlines and later Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International), it was redelivered to Aerolneas in 1999 and continued to operate for the company for the next 15 years.
The aircraft is the last of four A340-200s originally operated by the Argentine flag carrier; the other three were stored at Mojave and re-registered in the United States, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module.
Aerolneas did not react to ch-inquiry aviation’s on whether the A340 is airworthy, if engines and other key components have been installed, or if it is merely available for part-out. The airplane had 66,287 flight hours and 8,203 flight cycles as of 2017 and has not flown since.
The carrier’s RFQ is aimed at lessors and financial institutions, implying that the A340 will return to service.
The Argentine flag airline also operated nine A340-300s, which were in operation until early 2020. It now has eight A330-200s in its widebody fleet, with plans to acquire further -200s and at least four A330-900s in the following years.
