Welcome onboard my 4th FR.
Today I bring you a flight that family and work issues have made at least about 80 times.
AR and LAN are unique airline with regular flights to Ushuaia. AR has around 6 flights a day and just LAN 2.
Ticket cost me $3500 or USD411.
It is a 3 hours flight. Its the longest flight in Argentina and the only flying with A340/A330 (in addition to 737, 738 and E190). Formerly this was the route they made the MD-88 of Austral Lineas Aereas.
The reason why AR use an intercontinental range aircraft for regional flights is because they use their warehouses for loading goods for local industries. Ushuaia is at 3100km of Buenos Aires. In fact, on average this aircraft fly in 60% of their occupation.
Ushuaia International Airport Malvinas Argentinas is located in the Ushuaia Peninsula. Has one of the most beautiful approaches I've seen over the Beagle Channel.
Is located just 1 km from the border with Chile.
In takeoff a heavy turn right is made to not enter the Chilean airspace.
i live about 5km from the airport. I can actually see the runway from my house :D!.
Some pictures driving to the airport: A LAN A320 take off RWY 25.
Ushuaia Intl Airport Malvinas Argentinas.
A Latin American magazine named one of the 15 most beautiful airports in America a few years ago.
Before doing the checkin, I stay outside to spot some flights.
AR 737-7 Heading El Calafate FTE with old livery.
Beautifuls AR 738s from SABE.
A brand new Austral E190 heading SABE.
AR A332 from EZE.
Pre departure waiting Area. Look at the wooden architecture!
Boarding 45 minutes late….
2-4-2 Configuration.
The little IFE
Pitch
Safety Cards.
Another 738 from SABE.
Aerolineas Argentinas Magazines
Pushback and Taxi tu runway 25.
Takeoff. See the Navarino Island (Chile)
an hour after takeoff. a lunch was served.
AR has these boxes with these collectible stamps. have all the historical fleet of ar.
I order a coke and a coffee. one near my passenger asked the FA if he could repeat the snack. The FA answer: there is only one per passenger!!!! when in fact i ordered on other flights on more than one occasion without any problem.
AR Fleet
AR Destinations
Toilets
Near Buenos Aires
Landing at EZE. Whatch the video too!
Delta A330
LAN 763
25 minutes in the same position waiting for the bus inside the aircraft.
Last
very nice spotting from USH.
thanks for this FR.
As stated by Saraoutou the cabin is indeed quite familiar: i miss those seats which are much more comfortable than the one we have in AF 777's, but i do not miss the IFE which is so tiny !
Thanks for this report and for the nice views from your house :)
Thanks for sharing this beautiful report with great spotting.
Nice to fly a widebody on a domestic flight.
Thanks for sharing this FR
Gorgeous pictures at USH airport
A343 is a nice aircraft
Thanks for this FR!
I noticed the (Arg) right close to Islas Malvinas.
I guess territorial conflicts are everywhere, even on the onboard magazines.
I am not surprised by the territorial claims on the maps of the in-flight magazine. Likewise, all Chinese in-flight magazines claim that Taiwan and the South China sea is part of Mainland China, and it is an equally sensitive issue.
Thanks Kelval. even in all our maps Islas Malvinas include Arg tag.
For me and for all Argentine people the islands are argentine territory.
is a very sensitive issue ....
Maffre: well yes. I actually knew, but tend to forget. Being reminded through an in flight magazine is somewhat surprising.
Marathon: I didn't know that China still claims Taiwan, but I'm not the least surprised, seeing the last few years's tensions around the whole China Sea (even around Malaysia, Vietnam etc).
@kelval : China has land and sea territorial claims against a record eleven neighboring countries. In Mainland China, publishing a map which omits part of the national territory (i.e. not including all these claims) can be fined up to 100,000 CNY (16,000 USD)... even if these claimed territories are irrelevant to the purpose of the map, like tiny islands or mountainous areas where there will never be an airport.
Thanks for the didactic introduction (I guess you mean that there is a heavy turn right in landings, not take-offs), which is very helpful to understand the ensuing gorgeous pictures.
Glued laminated timber allows spectacular and beautiful architectures.
The FA could have refused giving a second snack in a more polite way.
It is great to have a contributor in such a remote location, thanks for this report and looking forward to future ones !
thank you all for the nice words :)!
Thanks for sharing this FR, I think it's awesome to fly widebodies on domestic flights, we used to have AV runs between BOG-MDE and CLO on their A332s but now that's not possible.
The cabin tells off who was the previous owner of the plane, not a tough job for people in FR.com though! The seat pitch looks a bit tight, I was really impressed how much the seat reclines, the woman behind almost couldn't fit her glass!
I don't understand why planes avoid Chile...in Colombia as far as I know, planes don't avoid entering neighbors airspace in border airports, and neighbor planes also enter into Colombia.
Wow, awesome report! BEAUTIFUL planespotting in such an exotic setting!!! I really like Aerolíneas' new livery...too bad the interiors are still as tired looking. Although, the seats do look comfortable. Thanks for sharing!
Kevin, tks so much for your comment. I do also like AR new livery. once a week I make spotting around the Ushuaia airport. I have pictures from when the Concorde visit in 1997!
Thanks for this good report.
Hey, great report! I especially like the A340 picture with the mountain backdrop.