As an ancient Argentine saying goes: “Politicians change everything so that nothing (actually) changes”… and the recent acquisition of a new (sic) presidential transport aircraft appears to attest to it!
Slated to replace the infamous Boeing 757 T-01 “Virgen de Loreto” purchased in 1992 by conservative Peronista president, Carlos S. Menem, the infamous-in-the-making Boeing 757 ARG-01 is about to be delivered to the administration of socialist Peronista president, Alberto Fernández.
The change of airframe, color scheme and registration demonstrate that little has changed in Argentine politics in the last three decades: An original (neglected) 7-5-7 is about to be replaced by a second-hand (technically and politically objected) 7-5-7, Peronistas remain in power… and the nation continues to fall in one of its customary an repetitive inflation, unemployment and poverty increase cycles!
Nothing changed? Maybe… the original aircraft cost US $ 66,000,000 and the replacement only US $ 22,000,000 (plus the older airframe, valued at US $ 2,800,000), while the “ARG” prefix appears to be more representative of the entire Argentine nation than the Buenos Aires-centric and militaristic “Tango”…
The new Argentine presidential flying flagship was the 920th 757 (c/n 29306) built by Boeing and flew for the first time from Seattle (Washington) on 03/16/2000, powered by two Rolls-Royce RB211-535 E4 engines.
Originally purchased by Iberia, it spent close to five years operating the Spanish flag carrier’s routes spanning throughout Europe.
Even though it spent about a semester painted in the livery of the Kazakh airline, Air Astana, the aircraft wound-up cocooned at Goodyear Litchfield Municipal Airport in Phoenix (Arizona, USA) in the first quarter of 2006.
Shortly afterwards, it reappeared in VIP-transport configuration and was re-registered to Funair Corporation, an Austin (Texas) based firm defining itself as “the superyacht industry’s leading manufacturer of inflatable water toys”.
Industry sources indicate the aircraft spent several years coming in and out of storage and was definitively grounded and totally displaced from the Texan company’s fleet by a Boeing 737-700 business jet in April 2021.
Apparently sold to Validus Aviation 757, a limited liability company from Tampa (Florida), the aircraft was licensed to C&L Aviation, a global aviation services and aftermarket-support provider for regional and corporate aircraft headquartered in Bangor (Maine), which entered it into the bid to supply the new Argentine presidential flagship.
Selected as the winner among three competing offers, the aircraft flew as “Elan Express 757” on 03/31/2023 from its storage location in Lake Charles (Louisiana) to 1 Vision Aviation facilities in Salinas (Kansas), where it went into repaint and interior work approximately on 04/08/2023.
Once rework is completed, the aircraft is expected to fly to Buenos Aires, where it will enter presidential service replacing its uninflammable Menem-era predecessor.
Variants:
- Boeing 757-256 (2000).
Identities:
- EC-HIP “Panamá” (2000).
- N757AG (2005).
- ARG-01 (2023).
Owners and operators:
- Iberia (2000).
- Air Astana (2005, ntu).
- Funair Corp. (2005).
- Argentine Presidency (2023).
Fate:
Last noted in late 04/2023 while undergoing repaint and interior work at 1 Vision Aviation facilities in Salinas (Kansas).
Internet references: Airfleets, Airliners, Carlos Abella/Rollout Aerospotter, C&L Aero, FlightAware, Funair, Infobae, JetPhotos, US Federal Aviation Administration and 1 Vision Aviation. Alberto Baratti, Facundo Rivera and Francisco Romero contributed valuable information for this photo (log) book.
