Aerolíneas Argentinas to Lease Boeing 737 Freighters
Originally published on Airways
Flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR) will receive two freighters for the first time this year. In December, the carrier announced it would receive two Boeing 737-800BCF cargo aircraft.
The Boeing 737 freighters leased from Macquarie AirFinance will end AR’s 16-year gap without a dedicated cargo aircraft in the carrier’s fleet. While details of the agreement were not disclosed, both aircraft will be leased from Macquarie AirFinance.
These two freighter aircraft will be used to transport Argentine products. According to the airline, in 2022, it flew many agricultural products, such as seeds, salmon, and cherries, to Europe, the Middle East, the United States, and other international destinations. These products were flown in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft.
The new freighters will allow the carrier to expand its cargo network
Photo: aeroprints.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aircraft History
These two Boeing 737 aircraft are registered in Argentina as LV-CTC and LV-KHQ. Both airplanes are over twenty years old, having been built in 2001, and had a long career in passenger service before being converted to freighters.
This will be the second stint in AR’s fleet for the aircraft registered LV-CTC. The aircraft was operated as a passenger aircraft between 2011 and 2021. Then in 2022, it will be converted into a freighter.
The other Boeing 737, LV-KHQ, started flying passenger service in Brazil with former carrier Varig, which had the registration PP-VSA. It flew for Varig from 2001 until 2006, when the company went bankrupt.
Then, the aircraft flew in the United States for a year before flying for Brazilian carrier Gol Linhas Aereas (G3) from 2007 until 2015 with the registration PR-GIP. Finally, before being converted to freighters in 2021, the planes flew with Italian airlines Air Italy (I9), Neos (NO), and Meridiana (IG).
The aircraft, which were Boeing 737-800NG models, were part of the aircraft series before the Boeing 737 MAX. The 737-800BCF can carry up to 22 tons of cargo. These new Boeing 737BCFs complement the carrier’s fleet, which already has 80 passenger aircraft. This consists of 26 Embraer E190s, 39 Boeing 737-700 and Boeing 737-800 aircraft, five Boeing 737-8 aircraft, and 10 Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
The Buenos Aires-based carrier is 100% owned by the Argentinian government. AR currently flies to 57 destinations consisting of 37 domestic destinations within Argentina and 20 international destinations.
