The next aircraft for Conviasa’s cargo segment is already at Mehrabad Airport, Tehran (THR): a Boeing 747-300M (ex – Mahan Air), which will be operated by its subsidiary EMTRASUR Cargo soon.
The aircraft, according to data obtained by Aviacionline through ch-aviation, is 36 years old, has more than 84,000 flight hours in more than 14,000 cycles operated, and was delivered to UTA -Union de Transports Aériens- in January 1986, where it operated until the company’s closure in 1992, when it joined Air France.
The aircraft, with registration F-GETA, was withdrawn from service in 2006 and sold to Mahan Air in 2007, where it operated under registration EP-MND. The 747-300 is already registered with its Venezuelan registration YV3531 and was christened «Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi».
#BREAKING: Confirmed now, #MahanAir delivered one of its two Boeing 747-3B3(M) passenger aircraft (EP-MND) to #Venezuela's Emtrasur Cargo (#Conviasa). YV3531 will be used to transport cargo from #Iran, #China & #Russia! It will be operated by #Iranian crew from #Mahan. pic.twitter.com/LZdNI8L2PO
— Babak Taghvaee – Μπάπακ Τακβαίε – بابک تقوایی (@BabakTaghvaee) January 24, 2022
The aircraft is already in final preparations to arrive in Venezuela and is expected to begin operations at the new General en Jefe «José Félix Ribas» International Airport located in the city of Maracay. At the presentation of Conviasa’s plans during the Expo Aeronautical Technology 2021 (where Aviacionline was present), the state-owned airline indicated that it intends to use the new aerodrome as its main cargo hub.
Conviasa follows the current trend of many airline operators worldwide to have exclusive aircraft for cargo transport: during the pandemic, the airline removed seats from Airbus A340s to carry out cargo operations and transport supplies and vaccines to attend to the health emergency.
EMTRASUR Cargo is a subsidiary of Conviasa created in November 2021, and its objective is the planning, administration, and control of air cargo and mail operations and activities at the national and international levels.
Photo credit: Mohammad Reza, IG: https://www.instagram.com/mr_mousapor/