Hello! I’m Iberia’s Airbus A340/600, registered as EC-JLE and named for Spanish scientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal. On 1st August I made my last scheduled flight, from Quito to Madrid, with 296 passengers and a crew headed by Captain Víctor Alegre Ramírez.
I’m the last of Iberia’s A340 fleet to go, to be replaced by the more modern and efficient Airbus A350s, which I hope will enjoy their careers as much as we enjoyed flying for Iberia --so many stories!
The A340/300 was Iberia’s first four-engined Airbus, entering service in 1996. Those aircraft were all named for illustrious Spanish women, including the poetess Rosalía de Castro, St. Theresa of Avila, 16th C. war hero María Pita, army officer Agustina de Aragón, and another 14. The capacious A340/300 had already made history in 1993, breaking the record for the length of a commercial flight with its non-stop journey from Le Bourget in France to Auckland, New Zealand, which took 21 hours and 31 minutes.
Iberia first deployed its Airbus A340s on flights to the Canary Islands, and then used them on route from Spain to New York, Mexico City, Bogotá, São Paulo, and Santo Domingo. In January, 1998, they began to fly between Madrid and Santiago, Chile, a 13-hour flight, and Iberia’s longest route until it resumed Tokyo flights in 2016.
In 2003 we A340/600s joined the Iberia fleet, and until 2011 we were the world’s longest airliners, at 75.3 meters, also boasting with the longest range –14,600 km! We were all named for distinguished male Spaniards, including painter Salvador Dalí, novelist, Jacinto Benavente, guitarist Andrés Segovia, architect Antoni Gaudí, composer Isaac Albéniz, and painter Julio Romero de Torres. It was an honour to bear such names on our flights all over the world!
Over the years we A340s collected our fair share of anecdotes, such as the birth of a little boy on a flight from Madrid to Bogotá under the command of Captain Jaime Ruiz Larrea and the supervision of Purser José Luis Larios, who found a number of physicians on board to help bring young Juan Sebastián safely into the world at cruising altitude!
Iberia’s A340s were also used to speed aid to victims of the natural disasters that devastated Guatemala, Chile, and Ecuador, and to take 450 tonnes of relief supplies to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. The shipments were organised by Mano a Mano, the relief organisation founded by Iberia employees.
And just 10 years ago, in the summer of 2010, my colleagues and I took the Spanish team, officials and fans to the World Football Cup in South Africa, which Spain won. My purser, Pedro Fernández, thought “Hey, I’ve just experienced an historical moment!”, when goalkeeper and team captain Iker Casillas and manager Vicente del Bosque held the cup aloft as they disembarked to greet the waiting throng at Madrid airport. I’ve never worn a decal more proudly than the one I wore on my fuselage that day. “Champions! We’re proud of our national team!”, it read.
In May, 2014 an A340 became the first Iberia aircraft to undertake a long-haul flight crewed solely by women, from Madrid to São Paulo. Later the pilot, Captain Mar Alguacil, heaped praise upon the aircraft, calling it “very elegant”. Thank you, Mar!
Another A340 opened Iberia’s new route to Tokyo in 2016. At our farewell party the pilot, Captain José Maria Ordovás, said “This is an aircraft that many of us will miss”. And we’ll miss Iberia, too, Captain!
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