avianca airlines (AV, Bogotá) has retired its last A318-100, N598EL (msn 2552), ch-aviation analysis of Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

The Colombian flag carrier operated its last A318 revenue flight from Rainbow Lake to Bogotá on December 8. Following a brief stint in storage at the Colombian gateway, the Airbus narrowbody was ferried to Marana via Houston Intercontinental for part-out on December 17.

Avianca used to operate ten A318-100s, which it acquired in 2011 from Mexicana (1921) (México City International) following the Mexican carrier's bankruptcy. The aircraft seated just 100 passengers each, including 12 in business class and 88 in economy.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, there are currently just forty-one A318s in active service around the world. The largest operators are Air France (AF, Paris CDG) with 18 units and TAROM (RO, Bucharest Henri Coanda) with four. The balance of the fleet is spread mostly between business charter operators.

For its part, Avianca, together with its subsidiaries around Latin America, operates fifteen ATR72-600s, twenty-five A319-100s, fifty-seven A320-200s, ten A320-200neo, thirteen A321-200s, two A321-200neo, seven A330-200s, two A330-300s, thirteen B787-8s, and one B787-9. Besides leases within the group, it also wet-leases two A330-200s from Wamos Air (EB, Madrid Barajas).