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Transport in Argentina - page 3, air transport in 2011 (by Dick Gilbert)

Last updated 26 August 2024

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Aerolineas Argentinas Boeing 737-5K5 LV-BNM is trundled around Buenos Aires Ezeiza airport on 1 March 2011.

These pages review some of the transport items of interest that caught my eye during a fascinating trip to Argentina and Peru in February and March of 2011.

This page shows a selection of aircraft seen during our trip to Argentina in 2011. To South American locals and regular visitors to the country these aircraft probably seem very common and boring but, as a stranger in those parts, I found them all very intriguing.

We travelled from the regional airport in Buenos Aires (Aeroparque Jorge Newbery) up to Iguazu on an Austral MD-80, returning after a couple of days, and then departed on a TACA Airbus A321 to Lima, Peru on 1 March 2011 from the main international Buenos Aires airport - Ezeiza. All the pictures were taken at those three airports.

Incidentally I was in the area again in December 2019 and managed a visit to the fabulous aviation museum at Moron air base in Buenos Aires. This included meeting Falklands War veteran A-4 Skyhawk pilot Pipi Sanchez. He's a lovely guy and I was honoured to meet him. You can see pictures of my visit here.

Iguazu International Airport is a pretty quiet place, and our Austral MD-80 (late, inevitably, as were all the flights we took in Argentina) was the only aircraft there, both on our arrival and departure. However the field may have had an active military history as an air force base in the past, as its position right on the northern border with Brazil might have been strategically important.

Here we see a classic Douglas A-4P Skyhawk (ex US Navy A-4B) displayed as C-215 (142102) stuck on a couple of poles at the Iguazu airport entrance. The Argentine Air Force used the type for 40 years. It can't be the real C-215 (of Grupo 5 de Caza) which was shot down on 27 May 1982 at Ajax Bay by 40mm anti-aircraft fire from HMS Intrepid during the Falklands war. The pilot ejected, and this display presumably commemorates that event. But which aircraft is it? Update: I understand that, in 2019, it was tidied up, repainted and moved to Malvinas Square in Iguazu town. During the move it seems to have briefly worn the number C-303 (149526) and that may have been a previous identity underneath the C-215 paint. That number cannot be correct either, as C-303 was also shot down. It has subsequently been repainted as C-215 again. Having asked some local enthusiasts, the general opinion is that this is a replica and not a real aircraft at all.

And talking of Iguazu, here are the mighty Iguazu Falls seen from the air. Brazil is north of the river and Argentina to the south (below). Up close, the noise and power of those falls is just awesome.

Arriving back in Buenos Aires (the regional Aeroparque Airport, alongside the river) our first view is of the Argentine presidential Boeing 757-23A T-01 (c/n 25487). Rolled out of the factory on 9 June 1992, it first flew on 2 July and was officially acquired by the Argentine Government on 22 July in VIP configuration at a cost of $66 million. It was named Virgen de Lujan and replaced a Boeing 707 with the same number T-01.

On 19 October 2004 it was damaged in a hard emergency landing at El Palomar Air Force Base, Buenos Aires, following an engine fire. On 10 December 2015 it was withdrawn and put into store at El Palomar, having flown around 11,000 hours.

Above is a typical MD-80 from the fleet of Austral, who operate internal flights for Aerolineas Argentinas. The two companies are supposed to be partners, but seem to be constantly at each other's throats, and the passenger receives poor service as a result. This is their older livery, but the newer Embraer 190 aircraft have an updated turquoise and white colour scheme. Update: This aircraft (LV-BOR) was scrapped in 2011.

The next most common operator at Buenos Aires Aeroparque was LAN. Known for years as LAN Chile, it is now a huge network covering north and south America, Europe and the Caribbean. Part of the Oneworld alliance, it is the 10th oldest airline in the world. Although its headquarters is still in Chile, their aircraft are now registered in many countries. For example, LV-BFO is an Argentine-based Airbus A320.

Wearing a striking livery, but unfortunately only visible from a distance, was this Canadair (Bombardier) CRJ-900LR Regional Jet (CX-CRD) from the fleet of Pluna, the flag carrier of Uruguay. Update: This aircraft became N187GJ with GoJet Airlines in 2015.

While waiting for the (inevitably) delayed flight from Buenos Aires International airport at Ezeiza to Lima, I spotted a few interesting aircraft, including this unexpected Ilyushin IL-76TD-90VD from Volga-Dnepr Airlines of Russia, RA-76950 dating from only 2006. This is the airline's home-grown, new, quiet (well, quieter !) version of the IL-76 that permits the type's continued operation into north America and Europe.

This Boeing 757-200 (EC-LHL) belongs to Mint Airways, but was delivered new in 1990 to Canada 3000. Mint Airways leases out two of these 757s, and is based in Madrid. Update: This aircraft returned to its owner (Wells Fargo Bank) in 2012 and was put into store.

Aerolineas Argentinas has half a dozen Airbus A340-211 aircraft dating from the mid-1990s, and this is LV-ZPO at Ezeiza. It had originally been VR-HMR with Cathay Pacific, and is apparently now in storage.

Also at Ezeiza, this is Aeromexico Boeing 767-3Q8 XA-APB, new in 1998 and owned by the International Lease Finance Corporation. They transferred it to Azur Air as VP-BXW in 2015.

Finally here is the TACA International Airlines Airbus A321 N564TA, which was to take us from Ezeiza to Lima, Peru. The aircraft in Peru were much more exotic, and you can see my selection of Peruvian aviation photos here. Update: This aircraft went to Ural Airlines as VP-BBH in 2016.

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