Brazil’s Oldest Active Commercial Aircraft

Brazil’s commercial aviation industry is rich and diverse, with data from ch-aviation.com listing 500 commercial aircraft as presently being active in the country. Among these planes are a significant range of ages, with the youngest being less than a year old. However, what’s the situation like at the other end of the scale?

Three vintage freighters

All three of the oldest active Brazilian-registered commercial aircraft currently fly for a Belo Horizonte-headquartered cargo and charter specialist known as Total Linhas Aéreas. Each is an example of the Boeing 727-200F, with the most senior being PR-TTO. This classic trijet clocks in at an impressive 46.02 years of age.

The aircraft, which had amassed 74,152 hours across 43,720 cycles as of February 2022, entered service back in August 1976 with Hughes Airwest as a passenger aircraft. After serving several different US carriers in this role, it later became a freighter following a conversion in 1997. It joined Total Linhas Aéreas in August 2007.

Second on the list is PR-TTP, a 44.12-year-old example with 65,383 hours accrued over 38,899 cycles. This aircraft also entered service with Hughes Airwest, but was converted somewhat earlier (in 2000). Rounding out the top three, we have the 41.57-year-old PR-TTW, whose career began at Eastern Air Lines in November 1980.

Older military turboprops

The Brazilian military is also home to some of the country’s oldest active commercial aircraft, which have been repurposed for use in the country’s Air Force. The design in question is the Embraer EMB-120RT ‘Brasilia,’ of which the most senior bears the registration FAB2002. Ranking fourth, it clocks in at 35.32 years old.

Overall, the Força Aérea Brasileira’s EMB-120RTs account for seven of the country’s 15 oldest active aircraft, with the remaining six ranging between 32.83 years old (FAB2007) and 34.72 years old (FAB2003). The design’s ‘RT’ suffix designates the fact that the model was designed specifically as a military transport aircraft.

The best of the rest – Boeing 737 freighters

All in all, 20 of Brazil’s 500 active aircraft have exceeded 30 years in the skies. The remainder of these are all cargo-carrying Boeing 737s of one form or another, with the oldest (and fifth-oldest for Brazil as a whole) being PR-SLI. This Sideral Linhas Aéreas 737-300F is 35 years old, and originally flew for TransBrasil.

In terms of aircraft that have surpassed the 30-year mark, Sideral Linhas Aéreas also flies another 737-300F, a 737-300SF, a 737-300QC, two 737-400Fs, and two 737-400SFs in this category. Elsewhere in Brazil, a Jundiaí-headquartered cargo carrier by the name of Modern Logistics flies the other two aircraft in the top 20.

The more senior of the pair is PP-YBC, a 34.13-year-old Boeing 737-300F that clocks in at ninth place overall. It is accompanied in the top 20 by 14th-placed PP-YBA, which has been active for 33.25 years, amassing 67,669 hours over 25,365 cycles.

Have you ever flown in Brazil? If so, what’s the oldest aircraft you’ve traveled on in the country? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

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