Conviasa to End World’s Last A340-200 Passenger Service
Originally published on Airways
Venezuelan carrier Conviasa (V0) is scrapping its only Airbus A340-200 aircraft, ending the last passenger service for the type in the world.
The national carrier currently operates 15 aircraft, including ten Embraer E190s, two Airbus A340-600s, one Airbus A340-300, and one Boeing 737-200. The airline’s hub at Simon Bolivar International Airport (CCS) is located in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. From CCS, the carrier serves destinations such as Cancun, Mexico, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Madrid, Spain, Moscow, Russia, Tehran, Iran, and others.
Aircraft YV1004 last flew in March 2022. According to Flightradar24, flight V0729 departed from CCS to Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA). Since then, there have been no more movements documented.
The Conviasa aircraft YV1004 was the last Airbus A340-200 that operated commercially. This aircraft was one of the first A340s manufactured and has serial number 031. The aircraft has been in operation for over 27 years and has been in V0’s fleet since 2007.
Built in 1993, the plane previously flew for Air Tahiti Nui 9TN), Air Europa (UX), Air Bourbon (ZB), Air France (AF), and Iran Air (IR) before flying for Conviasa.
Earlier in October, a photo posted on Planespotters.net showed YV1004 at IKA. The majority of the paint is removed, and only the wing tips and rudder display the orange from V0. Additionally, at least one of the aircraft’s engines is partially dismantled and covered.
Currently, there is no Airbus A340-200 operating for commercial airlines. Airbus has only built 28 of the A340 variant, and that is the smallest number of A340 versions ever produced.
Only five A340-200s are still active: one operated by the Egyptian Air Force (SU-GGG), one operated by the Libyan government (5A-ONE), one operated by Qatar Amiri Flight (A7-HHK), which is the state of Qatar’s charter airline, and two operated by the Saudi Arabia VIP fleet (HZ-HMS2 and HZ-124).