One of Europe’s leading charter airlines, Titan Airways, has bid a final farewell to its last Boeing 737 Classic.
The British airline’s last remaining 737 Classic, a B737-400F aircraft registered G-POWS, was retired from revenue service on April 8, 2023, and was given a water canon salute at the carrier’s London-Stansted Airport (STN) base.
The aircraft first flew for Titan Airways in early 2018 after a successful introduction the year before of a Boeing 737-400.
For the first few months the 737 Classic was used for passengers but underwent a freight conversion in the autumn of 2018.
The aircraft has since mainly been used by the Royal Mail for domestic mail routes in the United Kingdom.
Before introducing the 400s, and dating back to the early 90s, Titan operated the Boeing 737-300QC.
These aircraft could be quickly converted from passenger to freight and flew passengers during the day and cargo at night.
At the peak of flying 737-300 jets Titan operated three QCs and one dedicated freighter.
The 737 has played a key role in Titan Airways’ 35-year history but the airline is now looking to aircraft that are more fuel efficient.
These include the Airbus A321P2F and the Airbus A330-300P2F on the freight side and the A321neoLR on the passenger side.
According to Planespotters.net the G-POWS aircraft is just over 30 years old and flew for more than 20 years with British Airways.