The crash on May 18 of a Boeing 737-200 in Havana, Cuba, that the Mexican Airline Damojh leased to Cubana de Aviación, showed the antiquity of planes which some companies operate in the country.
In Mexico there is no maximum age for airplanes to offer passenger transport service on a regular basis, which is why airlines such as TAR, Aéreo Calafia and Magnicharters operate aircraft with an average of more than 19 years of service.
The Boeing 737-200 that the Mexican Airlines Damojh leased to Cubana de Aviación and that crashed on May 18 in Havana was 39 years old and had air navigation permits.
According to data from the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC), the companies with the highest passenger traffic have modern fleets, such as Volaris, with an average age of five years; Viva Aerobus, 5.4; Aeromar, 5.8; Interjet, 6.9, and Aeroméxico, with 8.1 years.
However, the regional carrier TAR, based in Querétaro, and Aéreo Calafia have aircraft with an average age of 19 years, and in the case of Magnicharters, it has units of 28.7 years.
The DGAC informed that no regulation prohibits, restricts or limits the age of operation of the units, because as long as they are in airworthiness condition they can fly.
Experts in aviation say that after 20 years it is considered that a plane has “fatigue” and requires more maintenance to operate optimally. When the aircraft is older it is recommended that it be used only for the transport of goods and not passengers.
“A 40-year-old plane, if it has its airworthiness certificates, is an aircraft that complies, but is not operational or efficiently usable, only freighters and charters get to use those planes,” said Captain Mauricio Aguilera, press secretary of BLADE.
Source: El Universal
