The curious fact is that its premiere took place in Gran Canaria
The aircraft carried out its first operational mission in Gran Canaria with a round trip that departed from Torrejón de Ardoz and landed at the Gando base.
The Spanish Government began early Thursday morning the evacuation plan for Spaniards in Lebanon in view of the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East. A plan that, in principle, consists of sending two Air Force planes. The first of these was an Airbus A330 that landed early Thursday morning in Beirut from Djibouti and was allowed to stay at the airport for two hours to evacuate more than a hundred Spaniards living in the country.
The aircraft, which has belonged to the Air Force since 2021, has a payload capacity of 45 tons and a total of 288 passengers. The versatility of the aircraft is such that it is capable of carrying out medical evacuations, with an interior layout to accommodate 40 stretchers, 20 seats for medical personnel and remaining space for 100 passengers.
This A330 completed its first operational mission in March 2022, when it completed a round trip from the Torrejón de Ardoz base to the Gando base in Gran Canaria. These flights are known in military jargon as “estafetas” and allow the transfer of personnel and material between Spanish bases.
In the past, these operations were carried out by 707s and Hercules, although they have now given way to the A400, A310 and these A330s of the Air Force, so this aircraft, which today began the evacuation plan in Lebanon, regularly visits the island.
In total, the Air Force acquired three of these aircraft, with the military registration number T.24-01 10273 452-01 being the first to be received and the one that has already evacuated more than a hundred nationals from Beirut.
The fame and versatility of this aircraft is such that, since it entered service, the Air Force has used it to carry out “VIP missions”, that is, to transport members of the Royal Family and the Government of Spain.
In November 2022, this aircraft transported the president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, and a host of ministers, including vice president Yolanda Díaz, to the summit between the governments of Spain and Romania held in Castellón de la Plana.
