Discover the oldest aircraft that are in the Azul, Gol and Latam fleets

In times of pandemic, much is said about aircraft retirement and fleet renewal. We verified which is the “most senior plane” in the fleet of each of the large Brazilian companies.

For this survey, we used ANAC data from the three largest Brazilian airlines that make regular flights: Azul, GOL and Latam Brasil. Respectively, companies have an average fleet age of seven, 10 and 11 years, which is not very out of the standard of the world industry, and which, as we will see below, is also very close to the median.

Blue

Starting with Azul, its oldest aircraft is the Boeing 737-400F with registration PR-AJZ, manufactured in 1996. The aircraft is followed by its “brother”, the PR-AJY, manufactured the following year. These planes serve Azul Cargo, the cargo division of the airline, and are not used on passenger flights.

If we look at passenger planes, the oldest is the Airbus A330-200 with registration PR-AIY, now 21 years old. He started operating on Emirates, having then passed through Virgin Blue, Virgin Australia until arriving at Azul, where he was also rented for a while to TAP Air Portugal.

GOAL

At GOL, the oldest plane has a history: it is a Boeing 737-700. Originally, he went to Argentina’s LAPA, then to Mexico’s Azteca. In 2007, it started operating for “Nova Varig”, the “healthy part” created from the sale of the company to VarigLog. It was only then that the plane was resold to GOL.

It did not receive the VARIG brand and today it still has orange engines, in GOL’s second color scheme. It is the oldest jet in regular passenger operation in Brazil, at 23 years of age. Your registration is PR-VBN.

Latam

In Latam, the oldest jet is also a Boeing freighter. With registration PR-ABB, it still has the colors of ABSA, which was the original owner before the merger of the Latam group. It was manufactured in 1999, and is now 22 years old. It was originally delivered to LAN Chile Cargo, coming from the factory already as a freighter. In 2002, it was transferred to ABSA, at the time a Brazilian subsidiary of the Chilean company.

In the passenger segment, the oldest jet is a 21-year-old Airbus A320ceo registered PT-MZI. It was manufactured in July 2000, delivered directly to Tam Linhas Aéreas and incorporated into Latam Brasil at the time of the merger. This aircraft has up-to-date documentation, but has not flown for months.

If you disregard this plane, the oldest jet in activity at Latam Brasil is the PT-MZT, manufactured in April 2001 and also delivered directly to Tam.

It is estimated that the life of a commercial aircraft goes up to its 30 years of age, when its maintenance begins to become unfeasible given market opportunities.

​Above all, the most important thing is not the age of the machine, but how it is maintained. Proof of this is this Douglas DC-3, which has been flying since World War II until today without showing any sign of fatigue.