Aerolíneas Argentinas heavily increased its fleet in December 2020, following the merger with Austral. The State carrier received several Embraer E190 aircraft that are currently serving the domestic market. Now, Aerolíneas Argentinas has 77 airplanes, one of the most sizeable fleets in the Latin American region. Let’s investigate further.
Aerolíneas Argentinas in 2021
Currently, Aerolíneas Argentinas has 77 aircraft, according to ch-aviation’s database. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 50 aircraft are active while 27 are currently inactive. Aerolíneas Argentinas is slowly picking up its pre-pandemic connectivity. The carrier is currently offering 5,490 flights, according to Cirium, a 43.4% decrease compared to November 2019.
This is how Aerolíneas Argentinas’ fleet currently looks like:
- Airbus A330-200: nine planes
- Boeing B737-700: eight planes
- Boeing B737-800: 29 planes
- Boeing B737 MAX 8: five planes
- Embraer ERJ 190: 26 planes.
The average age of Aerolíneas Argentina’s fleet is 9.4 years old. Currently, the Boeing B737-700 fleet is the oldest one, with 14.7 years on average. The MAX is the youngest, with just 3.8 years.
According to ch-aviation, half of the Airbus A330-200 are currently inactive, as well as half of the Embraer units. Moreover, 15 of the Boeing planes are also not flying for the airline.
The incoming A330s and B737 MAXs
Aerolíneas Argentinas is not set to receive many new aircraft. The carrier only has one order with Boeing for several MAX units. Additionally, it is renewing its long-haul fleet by taking younger A330-200 planes.
According to Boeing’s latest order & deliveries, it has unfilled orders with Aerolíneas Argentinas for nine B737 MAX aircraft. When they arrive with the State carrier, it would increase Aerolíneas’ capacity by 1,530 seats.
In the last 15 years, Aerolíneas has had gross orders for 33 aircraft with Boeing, including 11 MAX units, two B737-700s, and 20 B737-800.
Meanwhile, the carrier is also renewing its long-haul fleet. This year, two A330-200 leases expired, so Aerolíneas went looking for new contracts.
According to local media outlet Aviacionline, Aerolíneas found two former TAP Air Portugal A330s ready to be leased.
The first of them, registration LV-KAN, should arrive shortly in Buenos Aires. Aerolíneas Argentinas is set to use this aircraft in December.
The second aircraft, registration LV-KAO should arrive in Argentina by mid-December and start flying commercially in January. Both planes are in San Bernardino, California, being painted and retrofitted for the carrier.
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Aerolíneas Argentinas in the past
In the past, Aerolíneas Argentinas had a variety of aircraft, including several Boeing 747 units. The State carrier was among the few ‘Queen of the Skies’ operators in Latin American and the Caribbean.
According to ch-aviation, Aerolíneas Argentinas had several Airbus aircraft, like the A310-300, the A320-200, the A340-200, and the A340-300. Likewise, with Boeing, the State carrier used to fly with the B737-200, the B737-300, the B737-500, and, obviously, the B747 (-200 and -400). Actually, Aerolíneas’ largest fleet ever was the B737-200; it had 43 units.
Aerolíneas also possessed a few MD-83 and MD-88 in its history.
Have you flown with Aerolíneas Argentinas? What do you think about its fleet? Let us know in the comments.