MIAMI – On May 20, 2020, another flight was authorized to allow compatriots who registered on the Italian Embassy website to return to their home country.
The competent authorities permitted the Caracas-Rome service, which was operated by Conviasa (V0) with an Airbus A340-200. The flight arrived at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport “Leonardo da Vinci” (FCO).
Organization of the repatriation flight
It was the third flight coordinated by the Italian Embassy since the beginning of the emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It has been estimated that on this flight, over 200 compatriots have come back home.
For those who were on Margarita Island (Venezuela), the national carrier organized an internal flight for Wednesday May 20.
The departure of the V0 aircraft from the island was scheduled in the late morning to allow passengers to arrive on time at Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS) to board the Caracas-Rome flight.
History of V0’s Airbus A340-200
The airplane entered service in 1993 and is among the last to date still active. The first delivery was with Air France (AF) and after five years it moved to Air Tahiti Nui (TN)’s fleet.
Subsequently, after six years of service with TN, it entered the fleet with Air Bourbon (ZB) which after about two years sold it to Air Europa (UX) in 2005.
The aircraft finally entered service at V0 in March 2007 and is used on long-haul routes as it is the only airplane in V0’s fleet that can operate this type of flight.
Internal configuration
The aircraft is configured with four CFM International CFM56-5C3/F engines that provide a thrust of 144.6kN each. The internal configuration is as follows: 286 seats, 36 seats in business class, and 250 seats in economy class.
Conviasa, in fact, appears to be the only airline that still operates with the A340-200; a rare event that has been possible to capture as the first lockdown phase in Italy has passed.