G-VHOL 2 Airbus A340-311 Virgin Atlantic Airways LHR 04AUG99
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 11-Oct-20.
Named: "Jetstreamer". In 1999 this was Virgin's new livery...
This aircraft is c/n 002 and the A340 second prototype. It had it's first flight in Feb-92 with the Airbus test registration F-WWAS. After the test programme was completed the aircraft was leased to Virgin Atlantic Airways as G-VHOL in May-97. It was returned to Airbus Leasing in Jul-11 and stored at Lourdes, France. It was sold to GMT Holdings 4 Ltd as M-YRGU in Sep-11 and remained stored. The aircraft was due to to be leased to Luzair (Portugal) as CS-TTQ but the lease didn't happen. It was sold to Rajshahi Air (Bangladesh) in Dec-11 and went straight to Tehran, Iran via an intermediate point. The aircraft, now registered EP-APA, was seen outside the Iran Aseman Hangar at Tehran in Jan-12. It entered service with Iran Aseman Airlines in Mar-12. Current, updated (Oct-20).
Note: Rajshahi Air was a 'shell' company to evade international sanctions on Iran and the EU stopped the transfer of subsequent aircraft.
G-VHOL 2 Airbus A340-311 Virgin Atlantic Airways LHR 04AUG99
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 11-Oct-20.
Named: "Jetstreamer". In 1999 this was Virgin's new livery...
This aircraft is c/n 002 and the A340 second prototype. It had it's first flight in Feb-92 with the Airbus test registration F-WWAS. After the test programme was completed the aircraft was leased to Virgin Atlantic Airways as G-VHOL in May-97. It was returned to Airbus Leasing in Jul-11 and stored at Lourdes, France. It was sold to GMT Holdings 4 Ltd as M-YRGU in Sep-11 and remained stored. The aircraft was due to to be leased to Luzair (Portugal) as CS-TTQ but the lease didn't happen. It was sold to Rajshahi Air (Bangladesh) in Dec-11 and went straight to Tehran, Iran via an intermediate point. The aircraft, now registered EP-APA, was seen outside the Iran Aseman Hangar at Tehran in Jan-12. It entered service with Iran Aseman Airlines in Mar-12. Current, updated (Oct-20).
Note: Rajshahi Air was a 'shell' company to evade international sanctions on Iran and the EU stopped the transfer of subsequent aircraft.