LONDON, England – A return flight from Gatwick to Verona on 29 September could mark the end of British Airways Boeing 737 operations after 38 years.
The initial Boeing 737-200 was delivered to BA in November 1977. Records show that 123 aircraft of all series would have passed through the airlineโs hands.
Originally envisioned in 1964, the initial 737-100 made its first flight in April 1967 and entered airline service in February 1968 with Lufthansa. The lengthened 737-200 arrived very shortly afterwards and was the production aircraft until the arrival of the -300 series, now known as the โClassicโ in 1984. It was not until November 1991 that BA received its first -400 aircraft, which was based at Heathrow.
The fleet was transferred to Gatwick in 2001 with the arrival of more Airbus A320s.
To date some 12,900 Boeing 737s have been ordered with 8,636 delivered and around 6,320 in service.