Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR, Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery) has put its last A340-200, LV-ZRA (msn 85), up for sale having been in storage at Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini since retirement from commercial service in 2014. The aircraft is available for part-out.

The quadjet is of 1995 vintage and was originally delivered to Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International). After relatively brief stints with the Hong Kong carrier and then Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International), it was redelivered to Aerolíneas in 1999 and continued to operate for it for the next 15 years. It is the last of four A340-200s once operated by the Argentinian flag carrier - the other three aircraft were put in storage at Mojave and re-registered in the United States, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.

According to technical specifications seen by ch-aviation, the aircraft had accumulated 67,564 flight hours and 8,335 flight cycles. It has not flown since March 2, 2014. The airframe, all four engines, and the landing gear are overdue for heavy checks. However, Aerolíneas confirmed to ch-aviation that the aircraft is only available for scrap. Photos seen by ch-aviation show that the engines are not installed and large parts of the fuselage have been cut.

The aircraft had accumulated 66,287 flight hours and 8,203 flight cycles and has not flown since then.

The carrier is targeting lessors and financial institutions with its RFP, indicating that it foresees a return to service for the A340.

The Argentinian flag carrier also operated nine A340-300s, which remained in active service through early 2020. Its current widebody fleet comprises eight A330-200s, with plans to add more -200s and at least four A330-900s in the coming years.