European manufacturer Airbus has produced a wide variety of jetliner designs over the
years, with these aircraft serving a wide range of purposes all over the world.
Examples of all of the company's major aircraft families remain active today, but which are
the oldest?
With data from ch-aviation.com, let's find out!
The oldest remaining A300, and indeed Airbus plane of any kind, bears the registration
4L-EFC.
Specifically, this aircraft is an example of the A300B4(F) cargo variant, and is an
impressive 39.7 years old.
It first flew in September 1982, and has since flown for Pan Am, Apollo Airlines, TNT, AeroUnion,
and, now, Easy Charter.
Next up, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) flies the oldest active A310.
Bearing the registration number 15003, this 35.41-year-old A310-300(F) first flew in December
1986.
It has a strong connection to Canada, having flown for carriers such as Wardair and Canadian
Airlines during its lengthy career.
It eventually joined the RCAF back in December 1992.
As for the narrowbody A320 family, these popular twinjets seem considerably more modern than
the A300 and A310.
Despite the fact that the next-generation A320neo series has hit the skies, some A320
family examples do still exceed the 30-year mark.
The oldest of these is ZS-GAL.
This 32.86-year-old A320-200 is operated by Global Aviation Operations, and flies for
South African startup airline Lift.
The jet was previously with Emerald Airlines, America West, and US Airways.
The oldest active A330, EI-HEA, is somewhat younger, at 'just' 26.62 years old.
This A330-300(P2F) is owned by ASL Airlines Ireland, but flies for DHL partner European
Air Transport Leipzig on wet-lease.
It spent the first two decades of its career flying for Malaysia Airlines, before being
converted to a freighter in 2017.
Iran is a hotspot for classic aircraft, so it is unsurprising to see that the country
is home to the oldest active A340.
Registered as EP-APA, this 30.29-year-old A340-300 has flown for Iran Aseman Airlines
since 2012.
Before this, it had spent the bulk of its career at Virgin Atlantic.
For Airbus's newer aircraft families, the oldest active examples of the A220, A350,
and A380 are all testbed aircraft.
However, in terms of the oldest active passenger-carrying instances of these designs, the data is also
worthy of closer examination.
In the case of the A220, Swiss flies the three oldest non-testbed examples, with the most
senior (HB-JBA) being 5.91 years old.
Meanwhile, French bee flies the oldest active A350 (F-HREU) - at 7.9 years.
This jet was built as a testbed but then converted to passenger use.
As for the A380, Qantas flies the oldest example of the superjumbo (VH-OQD), clocking in at
13.5 years.
Do you have a particular favorite aircraft among the European manufacturer's designs?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!