"What a man can do, a woman can do better." In a world of a predominantly male dominated field of aviation, the ladies have proven to be equal to the task.
This has also include the flying the world’s fastest and sleeky passenger jet airliner - the Concorde that was only operated by the duo of British Airways and Air France. In this piece, attention is directed towards the few females that were privileged to be in the exclusive club of pilot who flew the Concorde.
These three women piloted the legendary Concorde. Jacqueline Auriol was the first of the trio, flying Concorde as a test pilot. Barbara Harmer became the first woman British Airways Concorde pilot in 1993, almost 20 years after the plane entered service. In 2001, Béatrice Vialle began flying the Air France Concordes.
Each woman’s life story and career are fascinating in their own ways; Jacqueline was awarded the prestigious Harmon Trophy four times, Barbara jumped from a career as a hairdresser to a career piloting supersonic jets, and Béatrice had the honor of flying the final Air France Concorde flight.
[quote]-1). JACQUELINE AURIOL (1917 - 2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOFkl4jDtmg?si=fc1nk-4DZ4_hS0_7 Jacqueline Auriol was France’s most famous woman aviator and one of the world’s leading military test pilots of the 1950s and 1960s. The daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder, she was born Jacqueline Marie-Thérèse Suzanne Douet on November 5, 1917, in Challans, a small town in France.
In 1938, she married Paul Auriol, son of Vincent Auriol who later became President of France from 1947 to 1954. When World War II broke out, Jacqueline refused to leave, but lived in hiding, assisting the French Resistance, and evading Gestapo agents. “I began to realise that I loved danger,” she later recalled.
After the war, Jacqueline took up flying, obtaining her first pilot’s certificate in 1948. One day, she went to meet a famous instructor, Raymond Guillaume, to learn aerobatics. He was sceptical about whether this society lady would be able to withstand harsh aerial manoeuvring.
In order to test her, he went far beyond the 10 minutes required for this type of evaluation and flew for an hour through various manoeuvres, including inverted flight. From the corner of his eye he watched her reactions. She smiled back and seemed happy and said she was feeling wonderful. So he continued to train her and became her friend and mentor, imbuing her with a passion for aerobatics.
By 1949, she was the only woman in France able to perform aerobatics and the public flocked to see her in action. She took part in a competition flight between Algiers and Dakar and then in July 1949, demonstrated her skills at the Paris Air Show.
A few days later, Auriol was sitting next to the pilot in a twinengine hydroplane, when it crashed into the river Seine. Apart from other injuries, her face was severely hurt, with a torn nose and fractured jaw. Yet, her first question while being rushed to the hospital was, “Will it be long before I can fly again?”
The press lamented that the most glamorous woman in Paris would be permanently disfigured. But Jacqueline was determined that this would not happen. Over the next two years, she underwent 22 operations to rebuild her face. Did the experience put her off flying?
She once said, “In the case of pilots, it is a little touch of madness that drives us to go beyond all known bounds.” It merely strengthened her resolve to achieve greatness in the air. Between her last two operations in the USA, she earned her helicopter qualification in just four weeks.
In 1950, she gained her military licence and qualified at the Flight Test Centre at Bretigny, France, as one of the world’s first women test pilots. On May 11, 1951, attaining a speed of 508.8 mph in a British Vampire jet, Auriol established a new women’s speed record, besting the earlier mark set by Jacqueline Cochran. This triggered a friendly rivalry between the two Jacquelines, and they went on to swap the women’s world speed record for over a decade.
Jacqueline Auriol beat her own record on December 21, 1952, in a Sud-Est Mistral. But she had to settle for being only the second woman to break the sound barrier, on August 3, 1953, months after Jacqueline Cochran. She reclaimed the speed title from Cochran on May 31, 1955, this time in a Mystére IV N. During her 20 years of distinguished service to aviation, she totalled 5,000 hours of flight, including 2,000 test flights and trials on more than 140 aeroplanes and helicopters of all types. https://www.sps-aviation.com/story/?id=615&h=Jacqueline-Auriol-1917---2000
-2). BARBARA HARMER: She was Born on September 14, 1953, in Bognor Regis. Harmer began her career journey in hairdressing after leaving school. She transitioned into aviation in 1973 and embarked on a path as an Air Traffic Controller at London. Harmer began her career journey in hairdressing after leaving school. She transitioned into aviation in 1973 and embarked on a path as an Air Traffic Controller at London
She employed £5,000 from her personal savings and a £10,000 loan to finance her flying lessons to acquire her Private Pilot Licence (PPL). Subsequently, she assumed the role of an instructor at Goodwood Flying School. Following that, she dedicated two years to studying, ultimately earning her Commercial Pilots Licence (CPL) in May 1982.
After submitting applications to over 100 positions, she was eventually hired by Humberside-based Genair, where she operated Shorts 330 and 360 aircraft. Subsequently, Genair merged with British Caledonian Commuter (BR), leading Harmer to transition to the mainline carrier.
She began flying BAC One-Elevens and later moved on to operate long-haul flights on the airline’s McDonnell Douglas DC-10s. In 1987, British Caledonian merged with British Airways (BA), marking the transition for Harmer to become one of merely 60 female pilots recruited by BA.
Supersonic Dreams Without delay, she aimed to pilot the world’s first supersonic airliner, Concorde, and submitted her candidacy for the six-month conversion course in 1992. On March 25, 1993 Barbara Harmer Becomes First qualified Female Pilot of a commercial Concorde. Harmer embarked on her historic first flight between London Heathrow (LHR) and New York (JFK) in 1993.
This groundbreaking journey catapulted her to global recognition. Amid intense public scrutiny, she gracefully handled her newfound celebrity status. As noted on British-caledonian.com, one of her most memorable moments was when she flew the Manchester United football team to their monumental Champions League Final in Barcelona.
Reflecting on the experience, she expressed, “I was thrilled and honored to be asked to fly the team on their historic journey to Barcelona and felt quite emotional as I taxied the Concorde out to the runway, with British flags flying and thousands of people wishing the team luck on the way.”
Concorde’s Retirement: End of an Era Upon Concorde’s retirement from service in October 2003, Harmer concluded her ten-year tenure with the fleet. Subsequently, she transitioned to piloting the Boeing 777 before opting for voluntary redundancy in 2009. She possessed not only exceptional aviation skills but also held qualifications as an RYA Commercial Offshore Yacht Master.
Her combined experiences in both aviation and maritime domains rendered her a highly sought-after speaker for motivational and inspirational engagements. However, it was at 60,000 feet, cruising through the skies at 1,350mph, where she truly felt her sense of belonging. Reflecting on her time as a Concorde pilot, she expressed feelings of “luck” and being “extremely privileged.”
Harmer continued to be an inspiration throughout her career and beyond. Following Concorde's retirement in 2003, she went on to operate the Boeing 777 until taking voluntary redundancy in 2009.
It’s noteworthy that Barbara Harmer is one of just three women who piloted Concorde. The other two were French test pilot Jacqueline Auriol and Air France pilot Béatrice Vialle. Before the aircraft retired, Vialle began flying Concorde in 2001 and completed around 35 trips between Paris and New York.
Regrettably, Harmer passed away at Wilfrid’s Hospice on February 20, 2011, at the age of only 57. A plaque honoring Harmer’s remarkable accomplishments was revealed at 91 Staples Road, her birthplace, in September 2020.
-3). BÉATRICE VIALLE: Béatrice Vialle is a French aviator and one of three women in the world (along with the Briton Barbara Harmer and French aviatrix Jacqueline Auriol) to have flown a Concorde.
Born: 4 August 1961 (age 62). Bourges, Cher (departement), France. Béatrice Vialle is a French aviator, one of the two operational female Concorde pilots and the first French female pilot on a supersonic airliner.
Graduating from École nationale de l'aviation civile (the French civil aviation university; named as "airline transport pilot student" 1981), she started her career at Air Littoral, flying an Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante. She moved to Air France in 1985, where she flew an Airbus A320 and a Boeing 747 before becoming qualified on Concorde, on 24 July 2000.
A graduate of the National School of Civil Aviation (class of Airline Pilot Student in 1981), she began her career on Embraer Bandeirante at Air Littoral (1984). She joined Air France in 1985 where she successively flew on Airbus A320 and Boeing 747 before obtaining Concorde qualification on July 24, 2000.
She made her first Concorde commercial flight on November 19, 2001 becoming the first French woman to have piloted a supersonic airliner commercially. She completed a total of 45 Paris-New York supersonic flights and three loops over the North Atlantic.
She is credited for being the only French-qualified female Concorde pilot( and one of the two female Concorde operational pilots) flying the final Air France Concorde flight, AF 4332, with fare-paying passengers on board. 31 May 2003. 🇫🇷 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXQ7Uhdf3C4?si=mlUW_m8FJnk4YIT1
In total Vialle made 45 supersonic flights Paris-New York City and 3 trips above the Atlantic Ocean. After the end of her Concorde flights (31 May 2003), she became a Captain flying Boeing 747-400s.
NUMBER - 8: DC-10 MANUFACTURER: McDonnell Douglas COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 1971-2014 NUMBER BUILT: 386 MAX PASSENGERS: 399
The Nuts and Bolts Life was not always easy for this workhorse of the American skies. Conceived as the successor to the similarly sturdy DC-8 – with which the Missouri-based aviation firm had entered the jetliner race at the end of the 1950s – the DC-10’s first years were blighted by safety issues.
But its reliability improved hugely as the years passed; it was only taken out of passenger service a decade ago. It retains an iconic status in retirement, partly due to the unusual placement of the third of its three engines; not beneath the wings, but above the main fuselage, at the bottom of the tail-fin.
Finest moment: Its recovery from this tragedy. An understandable loss of confidence saw orders for the DC-10 slump in the early 1980s, but after modifications, it became one of America’s most trusted aircraft. It out-lived its parent company (McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997), and was still part of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines fleet 10 years ago (its last scheduled passenger flight was on February 20 2014).
When Northwest Airlines put its final DC-10 to bed on January 8 2007, pilot Wade Blaufuss offered a tribute. “The DC-10 is a reliable airplane, fun to fly, roomy and quiet, kind of like flying an old Cadillac Fleetwood,” he explained. “We’re sad to see an old friend go.”
Darkest Hour The loss of American Airlines Flight 191 on May 25 1979, when a DC-10’s left-wing engine detached during take-off from Chicago’s O’Hare International – leading to a crash less than a mile beyond the runway, with a total loss of life (258 passengers and 13 crew, plus two unfortunate bystanders on the ). Photos of the last moments show the stricken plane flying on its side, the pilots struggling for control. Over 40 years later, the 273 fatalities still rank as the worst air disaster on American soil.
Where Can I See One? Next to a Concorde at Manchester Airport’s Runway Visitor Park (see manchesterairport.co.uk). And, brilliantly, reconstituted as the centrepiece of the Gate 88 nightclub – on the Indonesian party island of Bali (instagram.com/gate88langit). .........
An awesome thread... It brings back memories of my flights onboard the DC-10, Fokker-28 Fellowship, Boeing 737, and Airbus A310 planes from the late 1970s to the 1980s and beyond on International flights and within Nigeria. Those were truly iconic planes.
British Caledonian and Pan Am (Pan American World Airways) regularly flew into Nigeria on the Gatwick Airport to Lagos route and Pan Am flew from NY to Lagos back in the early to late 1980s.
The DC-10, Boeing 707, and Boeing 747 planes belonging to British Caledonian flew into Nigeria weekly with Nigerian and foreign nationals flying in regularly for business and holidays to and from London. Life was easy peazy to a great degree.
I wish I could get a chance to fly on a supersonic Concorde plane. That's my only regret... Not flying onboard that plane till the time of the horrendous and fiery Paris aircrash in the early 2000s that led to a grounding of all British and French Concord planes.
NUMBER - 8: DC-10 MANUFACTURER: McDonnell Douglas COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 1971-2014 NUMBER BUILT: 386 MAX PASSENGERS: 399
The Nuts and Bolts Life was not always easy for this workhorse of the American skies. Conceived as the successor to the similarly sturdy DC-8 – with which the Missouri-based aviation firm had entered the jetliner race at the end of the 1950s – the DC-10’s first years were blighted by safety issues.
But its reliability improved hugely as the years passed; it was only taken out of passenger service a decade ago. It retains an iconic status in retirement, partly due to the unusual placement of the third of its three engines; not beneath the wings, but above the main fuselage, at the bottom of the tail-fin.
Finest moment: Its recovery from this tragedy. An understandable loss of confidence saw orders for the DC-10 slump in the early 1980s, but after modifications, it became one of America’s most trusted aircraft. It out-lived its parent company (McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997), and was still part of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines fleet 10 years ago (its last scheduled passenger flight was on February 20 2014).
When Northwest Airlines put its final DC-10 to bed on January 8 2007, pilot Wade Blaufuss offered a tribute. “The DC-10 is a reliable airplane, fun to fly, roomy and quiet, kind of like flying an old Cadillac Fleetwood,” he explained. “We’re sad to see an old friend go.”
Darkest Hour The loss of American Airlines Flight 191 on May 25 1979, when a DC-10’s left-wing engine detached during take-off from Chicago’s O’Hare International – leading to a crash less than a mile beyond the runway, with a total loss of life (258 passengers and 13 crew, plus two unfortunate bystanders on the ). Photos of the last moments show the stricken plane flying on its side, the pilots struggling for control. Over 40 years later, the 273 fatalities still rank as the worst air disaster on American soil.
Where Can I See One? Next to a Concorde at Manchester Airport’s Runway Visitor Park (see manchesterairport.co.uk). And, brilliantly, reconstituted as the centrepiece of the Gate 88 nightclub – on the Indonesian party island of Bali (instagram.com/gate88langit). .........
NUMBER - 9: Comet MANUFACTURER: De Havilland COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 1952-1997 NUMBER BUILT: 114 MAX PASSENGERS: 76
The Nuts and Bolts: It is easy to argue that modern passenger flight could not have existed without the Comet – in its roles as both pioneer and fall guy. As the Second World War ended, engineering visionary Sir Geoffrey de Havilland answered the call for a great British leap forward in aviation, crafting this workhorse – powered by four turbojet engines – with one eye on the coming era of transatlantic travel.
He was not entirely successful, and it would take four versions of the plane before the project was fully realised. But by the time Comet 4 was aloft in April 1958, the jet era was in motion.
Finest Moment: October 4 1958, when the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) launched the first regular jet-powered service between London and New York (albeit with a refuelling stop at Gander in Newfoundland) using a newly minted Comet 4.
Darkest Hour: Together, 1953 and 1954 were disastrous for the Comet. A Canadian Pacific Airlines Comet 1A crashed on take-off in the Pakistani city of Karachi on March 3 1953; the first fatal jetliner crash. Worse was to follow. Three Comets were brought down by structural problems over the next 13 months (May 2 1953; January 10 1954; April 8 1954) – a trio of accidents which did significant damage to the plane’s reputation. However, the subsequent investigations – particularly into the thorny issue of cabin pressurisation – would pave the way for the more reliable aircraft that would come after.
Where Can I See One? You can find examples of the Comet 1, in varying states of preservation, at the RAF Museum Cosford (rafmuseum.org.uk) in Shropshire, and the De Havilland Aircraft Museum (dehavillandmuseum.co.uk) in Hertfordshire. The National Museum of Flight (nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-flight) near Edinburgh has a Comet 4.
NUMBER - 1O: Constellation MANUFACTURER: Lockheed COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 1943-1968 NUMBER BUILT: 856 MAX PASSENGERS: 109
The Nuts and Bolts: The Second World War was still aflame when California-based Lockheed launched the plane that would become affectionately known as “Connie”. The Constellation would have military as well as civilian roles, but gained its place in aviation history by being the first mass-market passenger aircraft with a pressurised cabin, enabling it to fly higher than the worst of the weather in a way that had been impossible before. Its distinctive triple tail-fin also gave it an unmistakablity – and grace – of shape.
Finest Moment: While clearly much more of a military mission than an exercise in passenger transportation, the Constellation (the C-121 model) was part of the Anglo-American airforce which flew more than 250,000 flights over Germany during the “Berlin Airlift” of June 1948 to September 1949 – delivering supplies to West Berliners cut off from the rest of the world by a Soviet blockade and the first serious tensions of the Cold War. It would repeat the endeavour in the Biafran Airlift, dropping desperately needed humanitarian aid into the darkness of the Nigerian Civil War – in 1968 and 1969.
Darkest hour A hideous accident on June 30 1956, when TWA Flight 2 (a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation) and United Airlines Flight 718 (a Douglas DC-7) collided above the Grand Canyon. The combined fatalities (128; 70 on the Constellation, 58 on the DC-7) made this the first commercial aviation disaster with a three-figure death toll.
Where Can I See One? At the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, a superb aerospace museum at Paris’s Le Bourget airport (museeairespace.fr). And, in rather imaginative fashion, at the TWA Hotel (twahotel.com) – the former TWA Flight Center at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, where a 1958 Constellation has been redesigned as a retro cocktail bar.
From the dashing Comet to the iconic jumbo jet, our fantasy league table of trailblazing aircraft should provoke plenty of travel nostalgia. A great deal has changed since December 17 1903 – but the basics have stayed the same.
In the 121 years since Orville and Wilbur Wright soared briefly into the first powered flight – taking to the air above the sandy Outer Banks of North Carolina – planes have become much bigger, much more sophisticated, and certainly much faster. Where once, a 12-horsepower engine and twin propellers were enough to launch the Wright Flyer 120ft (37m) at walking pace, modern aircraft have crossed half the planet at mile-per-hour speeds of four figures. And where the Wright Flyer could carry a single passenger (who was also the pilot), jets of the 21st century can, in some cases, hold close to 1,000 people.
So much, so obvious. But if you were to create a fantasy league table, ranking the very big birds of commercial aviation in some sort of order, which aircraft would make the list, and how would they stack up? Can you analyse the mould-breakers of yesteryear – the great leaps forward crafted by the likes of De Havilland and McDonnell Douglas – alongside the contemporary feats of engineering crafted by the likes of Boeing and Airbus? And what of those splendours of the skies which went supersonic? Is it possible to compare airborne apples and oranges – or do you just end up with a messy fruit salad?
Perhaps. But we’re going to try it anyway. The following planes could feasibly be described as the 10 greatest passenger aircraft of all time. Disagree? Tell us why below.
NUMBER - 1: 747 MANUFACTURER: Boeing COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 1970-present NUMBER BUILT: 1,574 MAX PASSENGERS: 524 (though typically 366)
The greatest passenger aircraft ever built? Quite possibly. Though far slower than Concorde (it has a top speed of 614mph, in the case of the 747-8i), no plane is quite as emblematic of the development of air travel from niche luxury enjoyed by the few to a basic commodity available to all.
Lovingly nicknamed the “Jumbo Jet” from the moment it emerged from a Boeing hangar on September 30 1968, the 747 has been a fixture in the firmament for over half a century. And while its era is drawing to a close – the last one, a 747-8F, was delivered to American cargo carrier Atlas Air on January 31 2023 – its iconic four-engined shape will be visible above us for a while yet.
Finest moment Carrying the Space Shuttle on its broad back. Two 747s were extensively modified for this very high-profile purpose. Each aircraft would transport all five of the operational Space Shuttle orbiters at various points between 1977 and 2012.
Darkest hour: Two, in particular, linger starkly in the memory. The runway collision of two 747s at Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife on March 22 1977 – a cataclysm of miscommunication in heavy fog that took the lives of 583 passengers and crew across the two aircraft (only 61 survived) – remains the deadliest ever air disaster.
The death toll from the downing of a Pan Am 747 over Lockerbie on December 21 1988 (270 people, including 11 on the ground) was smaller, but the image of the Clipper Maid Of The Seas cockpit, lying disembodied upon the Scottish turf, is arguably air travel’s most haunting.Only a few dozen airlines still fly the iconic jumbo jet
Where Can I See One? Flying for Lufthansa; Germany’s national carrier still has 27 747s in its fleet. At Cotswold Airport (cotswoldairport.com) in Gloucestershire, where G-CIVB, a 747-400 put out to pasture by British Airways when it retired its remaining jumbo jets in 2020, has been converted into event space. At the Delta Museum in Atlanta, Georgia (deltamuseum.org), where the first 747-400 off the Boeing line sleeps in the sun.
NUMBER - 2: CONCORDE. MANUFACTURER: British Aircraft Corporation; France Sud Aviation COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 1976-2003 NUMBER BUILT:20 MAX PASSENGERS: 128
The Nuts and Bolts While it certainly isn’t the only plane to achieve the feat, the phrase “supersonic flight” mainly conjures mental images of one aircraft. Few would deny that Concorde is one of history’s greatest engineering achievements. Perhaps, too, it is the greatest ever example of Anglo-French cooperation; a post-war aviation dream brought to reality by clever minds on both sides of the Channel.
Certainly, it was a very graceful bird, easily capable of breaking the sound barrier in flying at speeds of up to 1,354mph (Mach 2.04). Many would suggest that its disappearance from the clouds was a step back – and as long as there is no direct replacement, Concorde will remain an icon in absentia.
Finest Moment: Zooming into JFK on November 22 1977, as both British Airways and Air France belatedly began Concorde services to the Big Apple. Although the plane had been in the air since January 21 1976 (London to Bahrain; Paris to Rio de Janeiro), the US had moved to ban it from its airspace, nominally on noise grounds.
That embargo was lifted in February 1977, but it would take until the end of the year before that fabled nose-cone was seen heading for Queens. The transatlantic dash to New York would become Concorde’s signature; in record-breaking style on February 7 1996, when a BA flight managed the return leg to Heathrow in just two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds. Darkest hour July 25 2000, when Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after take off from Paris Charles de Gaulle – brought down by metallic debris on the runway, a burst tyre and a consequent fuel-tank rupture. The plane would continue in service for another three years, but the Concorde era effectively finished that day, on the ground in Gonesse.
Where Can I See One? Eighteen of the 20 Concordes have been preserved, and 16 of them are on display. In locations as varied as the Imperial War Museum Duxford, in Cambridgeshire (iwm.org.uk), the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset (nmrn.org.uk), at Aerospace Bristol (aerospacebristol.org) – and at the Udvar-Hazy Center, an offshoot of the Smithsonian Museum at Dulles Airport, outside Washington DC (airandspace.si.edu).
NUMBER - 3: A320 MANUFACTURER: Airbus COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 1988-present NUMBER BUILT: 11,328 MAX PASSENGERS: 186 (230 on the A321)
The Nuts and Bolts Airbus hit upon a splendid formula when it ushered the A320 out of the design workshop in the mid-1980s. Although it suffered an embarrassing false start – Air France Flight 296Q, an airshow demonstration flight for competition winners and journalists, crashed into trees at Mulhouse-Habsheim Airfield on June 26 1988, only two months after the A320’s formal launch – it has gone on to become one of the true reliables of modern mid-range aviation. See a plane in the sky? It could well be an A320.
Finest Moment: Becoming the best-selling passenger airliner of all time in October 2019 (in terms of deliveries and future orders), stealing this particular crown from the Boeing 737.
There are a number of members to what Airbus describes as the “A320 family” – including, somewhat confusingly, the A318 and A319 (both shorter than the A320), the A321 (a little bit longer), and the A320neo (which, introduced in 2016, offers significantly superior fuel economy to the original). As of January this year, this “family” adds up to 11,289 planes on duty with airlines (or an overall total of 18,460 if you include those on order or under construction).
Darkest Hour The A320 has a largely admirable safety record - and the biggest blot in its copybook was scarcely its own doing. The destruction of Metrojet Flight 9268 – an A321-231 carrying 224 predominantly Russian passengers and crew back home to St Petersburg from Sharm El Sheikh on October 31 2015 – was most likely down to a terrorist device in the hold that detonated shortly after take-off. There were no survivors.
Where Can I See One? At airports across the UK (EasyJet only uses members of the A320 family, while British Airways has 142) and the US (American Airlines is its largest operator, with 469).
NUMBER - 4: 737 MANUFACTURER: Boeing COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 1968-present NUMBER BUILT: 11,685 MAX PASSENGERS: 230.
The Nuts and Bolts There is an argument that the 737 is the most successful passenger aircraft in history. When Boeing put it into production in February 1965 (Lufthansa was the launch customer), the talk was of long-haul comfort on short-haul routes. Six decades on, little has changed.
Though it has been through some 22 iterations, culminating in the 737 MAX family of aircraft, the 737 has been a relentless cog of the aviation world, flying short- and mid-range services (the 737 MAX has upped its maximum distance to 4,402 miles) without any great glamour or any particular fuss. If you have ever taken a flight of between three and five hours, there is a good chance that you were aboard a 737.
Finest Moment Its ongoing ubiquity. In 2013, the 737 accounted for more than 25 per cent of the global airline fleet; 5,580 of the planes flying for 342 airlines in 111 countries.
Darkest Hour Inevitably, a plane of such enduring use has seen its share of troubles. As of the end of last year, the 737 has been involved in 529 accidents and incidents. None caused more damage to its image than the two crashes, in quick succession, which led to the worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX between March 2019 and December 2020.
The crisis began when Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air suffered the loss of Flight 610 from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang on October 29 2018 – the plane dropping into the Java Sea 13 minutes after take-off, killing all 189 people on board.
There was a similar catastrophe with Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on March 10 2019; the aircraft coming down six minutes after departure, killing all 157 passengers and crew. Both disasters were attributed to glitches with the 737 MAX’s Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which is meant to stabilise the aircraft, but inadvertently pushed both planes into nose-dives. Boeing fixed the issue promptly, but lost an estimated $60billion (£47billion) – via the cancellation of some 1,200 orders.
Where Can I See One? Any time you take a flight with Ryanair; the 737 makes up the entirety of its fleet. The Museum of Flight (museumofflight.org) – on Boeing’s home turf in Seattle – has a 737-130, N515NA; the first of the aircraft ever built.
NUMBER - 5: 787(DREAMLINER). MANUFACTURER: Boeing COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 2011-present NUMBER BUILT: 1,111 MAX PASSENGERS: 330 (on the 787-10)
The Nuts and Bolts As the 20th century neared its end and the mighty 747 began to approach elder statesman status, Boeing – among other aerospace companies – started to ponder life after the “Jumbo Jet”. One of the results ultimately to coalesce in the design meetings was the 787 Dreamliner; an aircraft which sounds as if it was named to fit a fairytale, yet has become one of the most pragmatic planes on the runway. Though smaller than the legend it has partially replaced, it has become a firm part of many fleets.
Finest Moment Arriving as one of the heralds of a new generation of aircraft. While boasts of extra sustainability have become part of almost every brand launch in the 21st century, the Dreamliner can plausibly sell itself as a big step forward. Lighter than some of its predecessors (Boeing states that the 787 is 50 per cent carbon composite, and only 20 per cent aluminium), it is supposedly 20 per cent more fuel-efficient than the Boeing 767.
It has also been hailed as a game-changer in customer experience. On-board facilities include a “gaseous filtration” system which provides a higher quality of air, the largest windows on any airliner (which passengers are able to lighten and dim, according to preference), and “Smoother Ride Technology”, which lessens the effects of turbulence.
Darkest Hour As of the start of 2024, the Dreamliner has not been involved in a single fatality. But it suffered teething troubles with the lithium-ion batteries built into its systems. The initial weeks of 2013 were difficult – on January 7, an overheating battery sparked a fire on an empty Japan Airlines 787 parked at Boston Airport.
On January 16, an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner made an emergency landing on Japan’s Shikoku Island when a similar problem caused an in-flight blaze. America’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the 787 until the battery issue was resolved in the April.
Where Can I See One? All over the planet. But particularly above Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima et al – the two above-mentioned Japanese airlines are the two biggest users of the 787. Indeed, All Nippon Airways was the plane’s earliest adopter, flying the launch flight on October 26 2011. You can also find one of the three prototypes at the Pima Air & Space Museum (pimaair.org), amid the dust of Arizona in the southerly city of Tucson.
NUMBER - 6: AIRBUS 300( A300). MANUFACTURER: Airbus COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 1974-present NUMBER BUILT: 561 MAX PASSENGERS: 281
The Nuts and Bolts Where Boeing was out of the blocks as early as 1916, Europe’s biggest aviation manufacturer took a while to emerge, only coalescing in 1970. So the A300 was important; a new power-player’s first foray into an ultra-competitive industry. It was also the first twin-engine wide-bodied (ie double-aisled) airliner in the skies – ushering in the era of weary night flights where you not only find yourself in a middle seat, but a middle seat in the middle bank of seats, fighting for the armrest on both sides.
Finest Moment: Making it big in the Far East. Launched in Air France livery on May 23 1974, the A300 had a stodgy start. Early sales were sluggish in the wider Europe, and in an America that needed to be convinced of the aircraft’s charms. It would be in Asia that the plane enjoyed its first significant surge in popularity. By the end of the 1970s, it was a key element of the fleets of Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, China Airlines (of Taiwan) – and Thai Airways International (amongst others).
Darkest Hour The appalling circumstances in which Iran Air Flight 655 was sent to the bottom of the Strait of Hormuz on July 3 1988 – shot down by a pair of surface-to-air missiles fired from the USS Vincennes during a time of (particularly) heightened military tensions in the Persian Gulf. The United States Navy pleaded a case of mistaken identity and communications failure; Iran claimed the warship had acted with, at best, extreme carelessness, at worst, with malign intention. Either way, all 290 souls on the A300 died.
Where Can I See One? Production of the A300 ceased in 2007. Just short of 200 (197) of the planes are still in professional service – although largely, these days, on cargo duties. Remarkably, at least seven retired A300s have been converted into restaurants, including at Danialand (danialand.com) – a theme park in Agadir, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.
NUMBER - 7: AIRBUS A380 MANUFACTURER: Airbus COMMERCIAL SERVICE: 2007-present NUMBER BUILT: 254 MAX PASSENGERS: 853 (although 575 tends to be standard)
The Nuts and Bolts: Can you have too much of a good thing? This question applies to Airbus’s colossal creation; the titan that, since it came into service 17 years ago, has been both the world’s largest passenger plane, and the only full-length double-decker aircraft. The Toulouse-based aerospace giant began working on its behemoth as long ago as 1988, hoping to build a rival to the 747.
The project was a success in one way; merely in taking off, the A380 eclipsed Boeing’s greatest achievement in size and modernity. But it is so big that airlines have struggled to make it economically viable, and the pandemic – when many carriers were forced to place their A380s in storage – has probably killed its future.
Finest Moment: The initial buzz. The A380 arrived to considerable fanfare, and there was so much interest in its first flight – a Singapore Airlines jaunt to Sydney on October 25 2007 – that tickets were sold via a charity auction. One passenger paid a reported $100,380 (£79,300) for their seat. It is tempting to snipe that this was a poor investment.
Darkest Hour: Its slow death. Although the A380 has a flawless safety record (leaving aside a pair of emergency landings, due to engine issues, which made headlines in 2010 and 2017), airlines have fallen out of love with the “Superjumbo”. Mainly due to its high operating costs; an issue only exacerbated by the pandemic.
However, even before Covid, faith in the plane was failing – Virgin Atlantic and Qantas cancelled significant orders in 2018 and 2019 respectively. When Emirates followed suit in February 2019, pulling the plug on its purchase of 39 A380s, Airbus was forced to bow to the inevitable. Production of the aircraft ceased in December 2021, when the last remaining order rolled off the line.
Where Can I See One? For now, in the heavens above you, flying for the likes of British Airways, Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Qantas. Also at the Aeroscopia museum at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (aeroscopia.fr) – the second test model, as donated by Airbus.................
Hahaha, another african that can't properly read a text. I am not from the shithole of Nigeria or Africa. How did you deduce that . I am from the European Union if you ever heard about that. Paris, Manchester, Hamburg? I can go there every weekend, Europe is already boring for me. Paris i have visited more than 5 times. Actually i can board a plane from my european country to Germany, France or UK not even having to do a passport control, because we are in the Schengen space. So i can do it whenever i want, and flights are sooo cheap, starting from 20 dollars. I can fly across Europe with 30-40 dollars, cheaper than in Africa haha, when we have much bigger wages. That is why Europe is sooo boring for me now, after so many visits, that is why i thought, maybe give a chance to african countries, maybe there is something interesting there, despite dirt, mess and uncivilised people.. BIG mistake!!
I have been to more interesting cities like: New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Toronto, Montreal, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro etc...places that an african like you will most probably never set foot in this life. And yes. DHA are a bunch of corrupt retards. South Africa is another shithole, criminality like nowhere in the world, now they have power outages everyday, a failed country with one of the most inefficient, incompetent and corrupt governments in the world. Actually i am not mad at all, it is a good thing that they did not give me the stupid eVisa, because god knows what could happen in that infractionality shithole. Tourists get robbed or even killed frequently. IT is funny that such a shithole of a country, unable to solve its own huge deep problems, is so "Scared" that a visitor like me may have a fake bank statement haha...but that is how retarded people function. No problem, my mistake for wanting to visit your country. Never again. Fortunately i didn;t lose the flight tickets i bought and will instead visit Namibia, a country that is 100 times safer, civilised than SA. And i do not need the stupid visa, i can get it on arrival for Namibia. But thank you anyway, your post was sooo funny, it made my day! And do not worry, there is no need for me to "put down" anything in SA, the SA government does an excellent job driving this country downhill. So there is no need for me to waste my time with it. And if local people in SA are like you, one more reason to not come there. Have a good day in that failed country! (if that is possible )
Here is the reality ( that you're trying desperately to distance yourself from)you are a Nigerian and not just any Nigerian, a narcissist self -hating Biafran .
How one can spot a typical flatron:
1.Disadain for civility 2. Disdain for law and order; they operate better under chaos and lawless hence they always push for breakdown of civility as Ekpa is doing in the East . 3. Always trying to dominate others and always having their asses whooped and humiliated as a result, from Nigeria to to South Africa, from India to UAE , from the Philippines to Ghana , from Kenya to Morroco, From the USA to Brazil. 4. Always spewing anti-black garbage when they are put in their rightful place as the uncultured species they are. Ofcourse this will be laced with delusions of grandeur " Biafra would take the black race out of darkness and embarrassment if were to be actualised ". Which is a big joke because no one embarrasses black people like them wherever they go with their audio billionaire desparado tendencies. You would think their local states would reflect this supposed superiority....but their 5 states are more like villages even by African standards ....you'd think you would find atleast even a replica of Lagos....but nope it's all shytholes with some haunted empty mansions here and there .
I could go on to list traits that made me spot the shape of your head just from your words .
The fact that you're trying desperately to mimic a white racist is testament of your deep inferiority complex and self -loath that your people are known for in the political arena in Nigeria, which has lead you lots to be declared persona non grata of the Nigerian political power structure, that's where your anger comes from. No matter where you go the demons of the civil war you caused in Nigeria follow you and you attract nothing but disdain wherever you settle in your numbers which leads you to play victimhood without doing the needed introspection. I can bet you before you sent those WhatsApp texts you went all Biafran (ape-like chest beating) on her emails ; telling her about all your certificates and containers in different ports around the globe , and in typical South African fashion she told you where to get off which lead to these rants . She wasn't impressed at all . Now you are here again making an arse of yourself with more grandiose claims that no- one with a quarter of a brain will believe
You are still visiting another third world country , not just any but our own brother country? LMFAO. For the comfortable Romanian you claim to be , you sure do look desperate .Piece of advice: Namibians are very calm , don't mistake that for weakness or stupidity( as you were brought up to do to people who don't subscribe to your jungle-like mannerism ), otherwise they will join the list of countries you despise ( where you always get humiliated for acting like a wild animal ) like Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia etc. AND OFCOURSE the one across the border that hurts your people's feelings more than any on the continent and the world .
And lastly your dream country Romania is another second world country whose passports ratings is on the same bracket with South Africa, so I don't know why you're acting as if Romania is some first world country lol. But then again to your Biafran arse , anything foreign with white skin is of superior quality lol. And know this, the Eastsrn Europeans countries like your intended country and Poland are some of the European countries who are don't pity the so called asylum seekers,.they aren't being set up by WEF thugs to destroy their countries with fake refugees at the rate of the West. You will never get their citizenship not even PR , and I hear getting even their visas from Nigeria is a big struggle. Perhaps that's why you desperately want to come here to ease your movement there .
The bitterness .......what a lower-class European you must be ....... Potential nyash cleaner feeling funky
This is a public platform , you are allowed to say your mind and rant as much as you like ! I understand how you feel! But in all you just need to calm down and get the docs right I am sure you will get the approval you seek SA high commission no try at all I have been through hell and back from their hand and if not because I have someone important from me there! I would never ever waste my 10cent on the the country visa again Because this people aren't as professional as the are thought to be! If you have something important to do there,I suggest you reapply.It can be due to human error like it happened to me but if not just do away with the country they are not worth it !
Hahaha, another african that can't properly read a text. I am not from the shithole of Nigeria or Africa. How did you deduce that . I am from the European Union if you ever heard about that. Paris, Manchester, Hamburg? I can go there every weekend, Europe is already boring for me. Paris i have visited more than 5 times. Actually i can board a plane from my european country to Germany, France or UK not even having to do a passport control, because we are in the Schengen space. So i can do it whenever i want, and flights are sooo cheap, starting from 20 dollars. I can fly across Europe with 30-40 dollars, cheaper than in Africa haha, when we have much bigger wages. That is why Europe is sooo boring for me now, after so many visits, that is why i thought, maybe give a chance to african countries, maybe there is something interesting there, despite dirt, mess and uncivilised people.. BIG mistake!!
I have been to more interesting cities like: New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Toronto, Montreal, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro etc...places that an african like you will most probably never set foot in this life. And yes. DHA are a bunch of corrupt retards. South Africa is another shithole, criminality like nowhere in the world, now they have power outages everyday, a failed country with one of the most inefficient, incompetent and corrupt governments in the world. Actually i am not mad at all, it is a good thing that they did not give me the stupid eVisa, because god knows what could happen in that infractionality shithole. Tourists get robbed or even killed frequently. IT is funny that such a shithole of a country, unable to solve its own huge deep problems, is so "Scared" that a visitor like me may have a fake bank statement haha...but that is how retarded people function. No problem, my mistake for wanting to visit your country. Never again. Fortunately i didn;t lose the flight tickets i bought and will instead visit Namibia, a country that is 100 times safer, civilised than SA. And i do not need the stupid visa, i can get it on arrival for Namibia. But thank you anyway, your post was sooo funny, it made my day! And do not worry, there is no need for me to "put down" anything in SA, the SA government does an excellent job driving this country downhill. So there is no need for me to waste my time with it. And if local people in SA are like you, one more reason to not come there. Have a good day in that failed country! (if that is possible )
ednut1: he has been entering it for over 20 years. There was a news article last month about all the plane hangers being filled up because of the superbowl. He came in from a meeting in London . He probably had meetings scheduled for today too. Naso big man dey waka. When it’s your time its your time
I think it was his time. A man who has taken risk through out his life no human being would have stopped him from taking that flight. But I want to know how his PA pulled out of d flight. Because not many of us who are working for someone can ever tell our oga, I beg oga I go by road. That speaks volumes for d PA.
KnowAll: If not suicidal. Just watch an interview with Herbert Wigwe did in 2019, what I deduced from the interview is this is a man that is driven. Nobody could possibly stopped him from traveling on that fateful day. What a shame, a loss to Nigeria and African.
This is the Elon musk of tomorrow in Africa. Already a billionaire but would have surge further to become one of Africa’s finest.
RIP
he has been entering it for over 20 years. There was a news article last month about all the plane hangers being filled up because of the superbowl. He came in from a meeting in London . He probably had meetings scheduled for today too. Naso big man dey waka. When it’s your time its your time
This Nigerian woman is attempting a daring feat - travelling from London to Lagos by road.
Pelumi Nubi, a 29-year-old Nigerian adventurer living in the United Kingdom who has visited 80 countries, is planning a groundbreaking solo road trip. She's driving from London to Lagos rather than taking a plane.
Why is she doing this, you might ask. This ambitious adventure is more than just checking another destination off her list. It's driven by the pleasure of adventure, a desire to encourage other female solo travellers, particularly black women, and a desire to challenge preconceived notions about what's possible.
As Pelumi puts it, "It's important to see people do things and open your eyes to what's possible." Some people are unaware that it is possible to go from London to Lagos by car.
What's the overall plan? To travel across 17 nations in two months, taking in every city and landscape along the route. Her path takes her from England to France, Spain, Morocco, and through the huge West Sahara Desert. From there, she'll go via Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin before arriving triumphantly in Lagos.
The voyage will begin on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, and be completed at the end of March. This is not Pelumi's first road trip. She has completed the Lagos-Ghana route twice, spent two weeks exploring Namibia, and driven from London to Lake Como, Italy.
This epic expedition will require a significant amount of funding. Pelumi thinks that the entire journey will cost between $15,000 and $20,000, including transportation, lodging, and necessities. A year of diligent planning and personal finances has created the basis, but she seeks assistance from people wanting to collaborate on this expedition.
You can support Pelumi by using the hashtag #London2LagosByRoad.
Mandate1: if I'm to go by your former supposition, won't it make more economic sense that the 20 people going to Kano pays more since the plane will run empty and consume same amount of energy with that going to Anambra? 20 people pay 100k and 200 people pay 100k. This way it makes more economic sense as the company needs to cover for the empty seats to Kano.
Lol, you are making sense but that’s not the way it works. There’s a base amount for each route, however the force of demand determines the marginal amount added to that base price. Check anywhere in the world, any place less travelled will have the cheapest amount compared relatively to places with high traffic, pls note the word relative. I do not mean that places less travelled can’t be expensive, it’s just that places more travelled are more expensive on the average. The truth is, all those flight companies, share the total cost on all passengers in the end, regardless of the route. Travelers must as a group pay for the cost of running flight operations and the base profit expected. Flight business na special business oh, it doesn’t follow the usual formula. Mr. A will pay $1000 for a flight Mr.B paid $200 for and they’ll end up as seat partners on that same flight. Inspite of the high cost of running flight operations to Kano, due to low passenger traffic for example, there’s a ceiling to the price tag you can place on the ticket, Anambra with high traffic will pay for the possible shortage on Kano route. That’s the way it is, the high demand on Anambra route means willingness and capability to pay more while low traffic on Kano route means lack of will and capacity to pay. Like I said at the beginning, THE HIGHER THE DEMAND THE HIGHER THE PRICE!! the very 1st law of demand in elementary economics.
Intrepid01: Chaii Nigerians and their entitlement mentality. That’s how air flight works in every other country. Prices are determined by the forces of demand, 200 people going to Anambra can never pay same amount with 22 people going to Kaduna. Even at that, the first 10 -20 people to buy ticket on a flight to Anambra might pay significantly less than the last 20 -30 people going to Anambra on that same flight. That’s how it is done everywhere. But Nigerians won’t agree, they’ll insult and fight you in their sheer ignorance.
if I'm to go by your former supposition, won't it make more economic sense that the 20 people going to Kano pays more since the plane will run empty and consume same amount of energy with that going to Anambra? 20 people pay 100k and 200 people pay 100k. This way it makes more economic sense as the company needs to cover for the empty seats to Kano.
While age is not the most accurate index by which to determine the life expectancy of a jet, it typically varies between 20 and 25 years for a short-haul narrowbody plane and around 35 years for a widebody aircraft.
But sometimes a plane is retired regardless of age, flight hours, or cycles operated. Reasons behind a jet being removed from service after spending very little time in the skies can be varied. In this article, AeroTime takes a look at some of these reasons, sharing five stories where the lifespan of an aircraft has ended significantly earlier than expected.
Service life ends six days prior to delivery Occasionally aircraft are taken out of service before they even have a chance to begin. This is exactly what happened to an Etihad Airways Airbus A340 wide-body airliner in 2007.
The lifespan of the brand new A340-600 jet, which was supposed to operate on Etihad Airways’ long-haul routes under registration A6-EHG, ended much sooner than anyone could have predicted. The aircraft was one of 24 planes on Etihad‘s order. It was expected to join the UAE-based airline in the fall of 2007 following a purchase agreement with the European planemaker, which stood at around $275.4 million at the time.
Unfortunately, the aircraft never joined Etihad’s fleet. Before being delivered to the air carrier, the plane was scheduled to perform a series of tests at the manufacturer‘s headquarters in Toulouse, France.
On November 15, 2007, the jet, which was temporarily registered as F-WWCJ, was undergoing an engine test when engineers failed to properly secure the A340 with chocks, which prevent the jet from moving when its engines run at high levels of thrust. The engineers applied the parking brake as soon as the plane began to move. However, it was not enough to stop the aircraft from accelerating to a ground speed of approximately 31 knots and colliding with a concrete retaining wall nearby. The impact caused severe damage to the body of the brand new plane, including its left side engines and tail. The cockpit was also torn from the fuselage. The damages were beyond repair, causing Airbus to write off the A340, which had been due to be ferried to Etihad six days later. The widebody airline was dismantled around a year after the incident.
Unlucky pick of Babybus fleet It will come as no surprise that airlines will constantly replace aging or less economically efficient fleets with newer aircraft. And this is something that happened at major US ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines.
The Colorado-based carrier used to operate 11 Airbus A318 aircraft, the smallest and least popular variant in the entire A320 family. Frontier, which became the launch customer for the model, hoped that the planes would be a perfect fit for its low-cost business strategy.
The planes were delivered between 2003 and 2007. However, the airline‘s plan to operate the model, which was capable of flying between 107 and 132 passengers onboard with a maximum range of 5,750 kilometers (around 3,100 nautical miles), did not work out as planned.
The A318, which used to be recognized as the ‘Babybus’, provided less capacity than other members of the A320 family, meaning that its operational costs were higher compared to larger models. Aiming to cut costs per passenger seat in order to ensure the lowest possible fares for flight tickets, Frontier decided to replace the Babybus with the A320.
The airline ended up scrapping the entire fleet of barely operated A318s because the aircraft parts were worth more than the actual planes themselves. The A318-100, registered N809FR, had the shortest lifespan of them all. Built in April 2007, the plane featured a special tail design with a porcupine painted on it.
Having spent just 2.5 years in the skies, N809FR was removed from service in September 2009. The plane made its final flight to Greenwood–Leflore Airport (GWO) on September 28 the same year, before it was scrapped.
Abandoned after the first flight A brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner owned by Colombian air carrier Avianca is yet another example of how an almost unused plane was abandoned despite its young age.
The Boeing 787-9, registered N797AV, has a unique story. Unlike many other aircraft parked due to technical issues, financial difficulties, or, more recently, because of a global pandemic, Avianca’s Dreamliner was grounded straight after leaving the manufacturer’s assembly line.
The Dreamliner, now 3.7 years old, was officially operational for an incredibly short time, during which it made its first and only flight. Boeing manufactured the widebody on May 11, 2019. But since June 2019, the aircraft has been taking an unexpected rest while grounded in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The aircraft’s unusual and short story began in 2017, after Avianca reached an agreement with Boeing to convert a previous order of three Boeing 787-8s to Boeing 787-9s, a bigger version of the Dreamliner.
Two years later, on May 30, 2019, control of the airliner was handed over to the Colombian flag carrier while the physical plane – and its associated parts – were still located at Boeing’s facility in Seattle, United States, according to SMBC Aviation Capital, the company that the aircraft was leased from.
However, the debut of Avianca’s pristine 787-9 came to an abrupt end. On June 1, 2019, the aircraft was transferred by ferry flight to Abu Dhabi, where it has been grounded ever since, Planespotters.net data suggests.
A victim of a global pandemic A similar misfortune was experienced by another giant passenger plane. This time, an Air France Airbus A380-800. The aircraft, registered F-HPJI, which was delivered to the French flag carrier in September 2013, was removed from service in 2020, even though it was still in good condition to serve passenger flights.
In October 2013, the iconic superjumbo, alongside an A320-200 registered F-HEPG, was painted in a special livery to mark the 80th birthday of the airline, which is a subsidiary of Air France-KLM Group.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcaPhMjXDH4 But unlike the A320-200, the widebody aircraft ended its service life in an airplane boneyard. In March 2020, when airlines across the globe were heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of planes were parked or stored due to the lack of passenger demand in air travel. This resulted in huge financial pressure.
The parent company of Air France suffered a €7.1 billion loss at the time, prompting it to phase out its entire fleet of double-deckers with the “definitive end” taking effect immediately rather than by the end of 2022 as it had initially planned.
The 9.9-year-old aircraft became one of the airline’s 10 planes affected by COVID-19 fleet cuts and was withdrawn from use in March 2020. It was partially scrapped in the aircraft graveyard at Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport (LDE) in France in May 2020.
The plane was one of the two youngest Air France A380s. Another jet of the type, the 9-year-old F-HPJJ, which joined the airline in 2014, was removed from service the same year. While the aircraft has not yet been scrapped, it is currently stored at LDE airport, likely awaiting a similar fate.
A Boeing 747-8 Business Jet (BBJ), the most luxurious ‘Queens of the Skies’ aircraft ever built, is another example of an airframe being sent for dismantling despite not even reaching the halfway point of a regular aircraft lifespan.[/i]
The Boeing 747-8 BBJ, registered N458BJ, is the world’s first 747-8 airframe to be scrapped after fewer than 30 flight hours spent in service. The VIP airliner will soon be scrapped at the Pinal Airpark boneyard in Marana, United States, despite the jet being delivered to its owner only a decade earlier.
The story of this particular Queen of the Skies began in late 2012 when it was rolled out of the Boeing factory. The giant was initially expected to become a special government plane to operate flights for the Saudi Arabian government. It was ferried to EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg Airport (BSL), located at the border tripoint between France, Germany, and Switzerland, where it was supposed to undergo interior modifications.
The aircraft was to become a personal plane for Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz. However, in October 2021, around nine months before the scheduled delivery, the customer died. Several attempts have since been made to sell the BBJ for around $95 million (or one-fifth the value of the new 747-8 at the time), but finding a new owner for a barely flown jet has proven to be difficult.
World’s first Boeing 747-8 BBJ scrapped in US after just 30 flight hours The BBJ, which was painted with a white livery, remained parked at BSL airport for more than a decade until April 2022, when it was ferried to one of the world’s largest aircraft graveyards located at Pinal County Airpark (MZJ) in the Arizona desert. The 747-8, which had reportedly operated only 16 flights and spent just 29 hours in the sky, had its most valuable parts, the four General Electric GEnx turbofan engines, removed.
While the aircraft has not yet been fully scrapped, its wing flaps, some parts of the tail and fuselage, as well as the rudder, have already been dismantled.
First, my Uncle brought his entire family...his kids are little and hadn't been to the village in a while
Secondly, he already had a good support system here. My pops helped him out and he has a fully furnished duplex here in Nigeria...he paid most of it and later on completed the payment in full.
Thirdly, the issue of remittance. Many drops in the ocean make a large pond. Another thing to consider is huge remittances can be made by few people, the same way you might look at contributions to a burial and notice that one or two people are carrying 20-50% of the cost.
Yes, his entire family, I understand that. Today that would likely cost over $15K with the costs I referred to. Nobody with an income less than $250K/yr has any business with that kind of trip.
There's no support system in Nigeria for diasporans, 99.999% of the time money flows from the diasporan to the Nigerian based relatives.
I started my life working illegally in a restaurant. Within 6 months I sent $1500 home to pay off the money borrowed for my plane ticket. Then I started building house, paying siblings school fees and sending feeding money. My point is that remittances are a widespread thing from the poorest to the richest Nigerians in diaspora and I don't think it's as lopsided as you make it sound. I have a 26 year old cousin that migrated to London just this year, not even 6 months and he's already sending money home. I suspect you're Igbo so you'll understand the proverb that a poor man's chicken to him is like a rich man's cow.
Well me I've left Nigeria to those who want it. Let them have it all and enjoy it too and let me enjoy my 4th class slavery in the USA. I'm never going back to Nigeria, not even to retire UNLESS the minimum reforms for a free market society are implemented. Again like the Igbo say it....when the race is over we shall count the distance. I've seen it all and I believe I know what I'm on about.
Truth is , when it comes to helping people from Nigeria Chief, it is the same rule you apply whether you live in USA or you live in Nigeria. You must tactically avoid some people and avoid stupid ventures.
Bros, am even tired of arguing about japa no japa again because they will just see you as hater. Many people are doing fine here in Nigeria and won't think about japaing yet the noise about japa on nairaland is way above the roof. Some of them say that you can't get a visitor's visa to Europe or Canada with nija passport and when I enter the plane while coming back home last month, 90% of the people are using Nigerian passport because most of us queued and cleared through the Nigerians Only route while like 10% in the foreign passport route. So who are these Nigerians getting visas everyday? Who are these Nigerians filling up Ethiopia airlines like 8 a day to Nigeria with other airlines?
Where are they all getting visas for different countries when the japa crew nairaland version claim Nigeria passport is useless and can't go anywhere? By now, I expect planes to just be 15 or 20% partially filled since Nigerian passport holders have been shadow-banned as they usually say it
Just as a clarification, if one is moving to Nigeria, it makes sense to use the Nigerian passport even if the person is a dual citizen of a developed country. The same applies when moving out; use the Nigerian passport when moving out and present the other passport upon arrival.
Bros, am even tired of arguing about japa no japa again because they will just see you as hater. Many people are doing fine here in Nigeria and won't think about japaing yet the noise about japa on nairaland is way above the roof. Some of them say that you can't get a visitor's visa to Europe or Canada with nija passport and when I enter the plane while coming back home last month, 90% of the people are using Nigerian passport because most of us queued and cleared through the Nigerians Only route while like 10% in the foreign passport route. So who are these Nigerians getting visas everyday? Who are these Nigerians filling up Ethiopia airlines like 8 a day to Nigeria with other airlines? Most of these flights are virtually filled up either while traveling out or coming back. People are traveling out en mass everyday and coming in and most use the Nigerians only immigration route. So who are these Nigerians getting visas? Every God damn days. Where are they all getting visas for different countries when the japa crew nairaland version claim Nigeria passport is useless and can't go anywhere? By now, I expect planes to just be 15 or 20% partially filled since Nigerian passport holders have been shadow-banned as they usually say it
If after all this talk you no collect second passport, I go vex for you. Mark am somewhere!
Bros, am even tired of arguing about japa no japa again because they will just see you as hater. Many people are doing fine here in Nigeria and won't think about japaing yet the noise about japa on nairaland is way above the roof. Some of them say that you can't get a visitor's visa to Europe or Canada with nija passport and when I enter the plane while coming back home last month, 90% of the people are using Nigerian passport because most of us queued and cleared through the Nigerians Only route while like 10% in the foreign passport route. So who are these Nigerians getting visas everyday? Who are these Nigerians filling up Ethiopia airlines like 8 a day to Nigeria with other airlines? Most of these flights are virtually filled up either while traveling out or coming back. People are traveling out en mass everyday and coming in and most use the Nigerians only immigration route. So who are these Nigerians getting visas? Every God damn days. Where are they all getting visas for different countries when the japa crew nairaland version claim Nigeria passport is useless and can't go anywhere? By now, I expect planes to just be 15 or 20% partially filled since Nigerian passport holders have been shadow-banned as they usually say it
It is annoying seeing people equating being abroad as equivalent to being rich.
Insulting hardworking Nigerians is a blow below the belt for me.
Anyone that wants to relocate should do it, those that want to be in Nigeria should be left alone.
Why are you calling everyone "suffer head" once they do not agree with your position.
Our definition of "success" in life is different.
Someone that could not get visitor's visa on a norm and is now in UK or Canada doing menial job will rightly feel it is a step up.
Some are balling in Nigeria , and you expect them to be chasing goose up and down, attempting to japa-ing.
I only feel sorry for individuals that will be fooled by all these posts. Each individual case is unique and different.
Whatever works for you, just do it, and do not shove your opinion down people's throats
Bros, am even tired of arguing about japa no japa again because they will just see you as hater. Many people are doing fine here in Nigeria and won't think about japaing yet the noise about japa on nairaland is way above the roof. Some of them say that you can't get a visitor's visa to Europe or Canada with nija passport and when I enter the plane while coming back home last month, 90% of the people are using Nigerian passport because most of us queued and cleared through the Nigerians Only route while like 10% in the foreign passport route. So who are these Nigerians getting visas everyday? Who are these Nigerians filling up Ethiopia airlines like 8 a day to Nigeria with other airlines? Most of these flights are virtually filled up either while traveling out or coming back. People are traveling out en mass everyday and coming in and most use the Nigerians only immigration route. So who are these Nigerians getting visas? Every God damn days. Where are they all getting visas for different countries when the japa crew nairaland version claim Nigeria passport is useless and can't go anywhere? By now, I expect planes to just be 15 or 20% partially filled since Nigerian passport holders have been shadow-banned as they usually say it
I know how much Nigerian government can scam it citizens. But this air plane is owned by Cross River State government and managed by aero. Though I guess that plane should be atleast 15 to 20 years.
skywalker240: International airport, and yet these guys can't get Airbus 380, 360, or even 340?
We know they can afford 20 of these aircraft's, but archaic mentality plus backward mentality, they won't
Ethiopia Airways and Emirate have these as trade marks
Your stupidity is so obvious but what baffles me the most is your bitterness and ethnic biased mind set for a state that is feeding you and your people through it's resources. am sure you don't have a functional airport in your state. If you knew anything about airport services you won't say all these trash. Cos plane sizes used by airlines depends largely on their volume of customers traffic and efficiency.
From Toronto to Thunder Bay is 20hrs drive, in the same Ontario province.
pansophist: Instead of being an undocumented immigrant in Canada, please do that in the US.
The US has lots of warm states. The US won the geographical jackpot of the North American continent.
Also, after these migrants suddenly become legal, they will face the high cost of living, extreme cold, and isolated lifestyle, with a painful long commute, since Canada is so freaking huge. The largest country in the world after Russia.
Anytime I fly to The Netherlands and enter the Netherlands airspace, it is not more than 20 minutes before the plane will land, since the country is small.
But Canada, damn. It takes roughly two hours to fly into Canada from Europe (Iceland), but you will spend an additional four to five hours flying inside Canada, just to get to your province.
Canada is too forking huge, you just can't comprehend it. Even their so-called big cities have lots of long driving in it. You will lose your mind there if you are not a natural introvert.
And if you now compare Canada to Russia, then Canada seems like a dwarf. Russia is a continent. Then you will know Nigeria is small and overpopulated.
Instead of being an undocumented immigrant in Canada, please do that in the US.
The US has lots of warm states. The US won the geographical jackpot of the North American continent.
Also, after these migrants suddenly become legal, they will face the high cost of living, extreme cold, and isolated lifestyle, with a painful long commute, since Canada is so freaking huge. The largest country in the world after Russia.
Anytime I fly to The Netherlands and enter the Netherlands airspace, it is not more than 20 minutes before the plane will land, since the country is small.
But Canada, damn. It takes roughly two hours to fly into Canada from Europe (Iceland), but you will spend an additional four to five hours flying inside Canada, just to get to your province.
Canada is too forking huge, you just can't comprehend it. Even their so-called big cities have lots of long driving in it. You will lose your mind there if you are not a natural introvert.
And if you now compare Canada to Russia, then Canada seems like a dwarf. Russia is a continent. Then you will know Nigeria is small and overpopulated.
How can you spy on your boyfriends with the plane worth 5 billion dollars and crashed the plane because he broke your heart, when you saw him from above cheating on you with another woman. That must be an expensive boyfriend
Believe me, they were arguing or gossiping on that plane....... And maybe on of the co-pilot snatches the pilot boyfriend who happens to be one major general and the pilot wanted to take her revenge on the bitch.
CaseSensitive: I remember warning people a while ago to use logic before deciding to come to the UK, rather than the typical Naija's attitude of "We will cross the bridge when we get to it" No one is saying you shouldn't come to the UK but make sure you've paid your school fees in full before stepping foot on the plane and have some money left to sustain you for at least 9 months.
You CANNOT pay part of your school fees and believe you will be able to hustle for the balance on a 20 hours/ week job, especially if you're a solo student with no dependent but it seems people just want to get the UK visa by all means.
I've seen fully grown men and women beg for food, money and accommodation because they either can't balance their school fees or they arrived and realised there's no health care job waiting for them. UK is a hostile place to be if you're an immigrant and broke.
Hey man what would u advise someone with a fully funded scholarship (comp science) vs a remote job in Nigeria that pays 200k hybrid(based on Lagos) to report once a month… currently based in a cheap state ?
I remember warning people a while ago to use logic before deciding to come to the UK, rather than the typical Naija's attitude of "We will cross the bridge when we get to it" No one is saying you shouldn't come to the UK but make sure you've paid your school fees in full before stepping foot on the plane and have some money left to sustain you for at least 9 months.
You CANNOT pay part of your school fees and believe you will be able to hustle for the balance on a 20 hours/ week job, especially if you're a solo student with no dependent but it seems people just want to get the UK visa by all means.
I've seen fully grown men and women beg for food, money and accommodation because they either can't balance their school fees or they arrived and realised there's no health care job waiting for them. UK is a hostile place to be if you're an immigrant and broke.
Full List of International Airports In Nigeria: In response to the persistent and widespread interest in the realm of aviation, we are delighted to present in this comprehensive post an updated and exhaustive compilation of Nigeria’s international airports. These vital gateways to the world serve as essential conduits for both inbound and outbound travelers, facilitating seamless global connectivity and fostering international exchanges across a spectrum of purposes.
Full List of International Airports In Nigeria
Nigeria, a nation of remarkable geographic diversity, currently boasts a total of 31 airports, strategically distributed across its 36 states. However, it is important to note that not all of these airports bear the distinction of being classified as international airports. The aviation landscape in Nigeria encompasses a rich tapestry that includes local airports catering primarily to domestic travel, alongside a select group of Nigeria International Airports, designed to accommodate the needs of travelers embarking on international journeys.
These Nigerian International Airports stand as portals of entry and exit, welcoming both Nigerian citizens and foreign nationals traversing our borders for a multitude of reasons, including business endeavors, tourism, educational pursuits, and more. Recognizing the importance of efficient immigration and passport services in ensuring the seamless flow of travelers, each of these international airports is equipped with dedicated Nigerian Immigration Service and Passport Officers, who diligently facilitate the requisite immigration and customs procedures.
Whether you are embarking on a sojourn beyond Nigerian borders for professional aspirations, embarking on an enriching voyage of exploration, or pursuing higher education opportunities abroad, our commitment to providing you with comprehensive information is unwavering. In the pages that follow, we present an extensive and up-to-date roster of Nigerian International Airports, meticulously curated to empower you with the knowledge needed to embark on your international journeys with confidence and preparedness.
Indeed, this compendium serves as a valuable resource for travelers seeking to navigate the intricacies of air travel from Nigeria, offering insights into the airports, their locations, and the services they offer. Whether your wanderlust leads you to distant shores or you are a seasoned global explorer, this compilation is a tool to guide you on your voyage beyond borders.
How Many International Airports Are In Nigeria? As of the present moment, Nigeria boasts a total of 11 airports designated for international operations. However, it’s important to note that only a select subset of five airports among them are fully equipped and compliant with international standards, capable of efficiently handling international flights.
Without further ado, let’s delve right into today’s focal point: an inclusive roster of Nigerian International Airports, enriched with valuable information aimed at enhancing your understanding of these critical gateways. Before we embark on this informative journey, it’s worth taking a moment to explore the top-performing domestic airlines in Nigeria, setting the stage for a holistic perspective on the nation’s aviation landscape.
1. Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja
Murtala Mohammed International Airport, situated in the vibrant capital city of Lagos State, Ikeja, stands as a pivotal and prestigious emblem of Nigeria’s aviation landscape. This international airport is not merely a facility for air travel; it is the veritable heart of Nigeria’s aerial connectivity, holding the distinction of being the most frequented airport in the entire nation.
Originally known as Lagos International Airport, this aviation hub underwent a significant transformation and nomenclature alteration during the 1970s. In a poignant gesture of honor and recognition, it was renamed Murtala Mohammed International Airport, paying tribute to the late former Nigerian Military leader, Murtala Mohammed, whose legacy and leadership qualities continue to resonate within Nigeria’s historical narrative.
Murtala Mohammed International Airport operates with a multifaceted mission, deftly managing both domestic and international flight operations from a shared runway. This duality of function underscores the airport’s significance as a pivotal gateway for travelers embarking on journeys within Nigeria’s borders and those voyaging beyond them to distant global destinations.
Delving into the statistics that chronicle the airport’s bustling activity, it becomes abundantly clear that Murtala Mohammed International Airport is an aviation colossus. With a staggering annual passenger throughput exceeding the 7 million mark, these numbers consistently surge upwards year after year. Such prodigious figures unequivocally establish the airport’s claim to fame as one of the most substantial and pivotal aviation hubs not just within Nigeria but across the entire African continent.
In essence, Murtala Mohammed International Airport stands as a testament to Nigeria’s commitment to providing world-class aviation infrastructure, facilitating seamless travel experiences, and contributing significantly to the nation’s air travel landscape. Its legacy extends far beyond its tarmac, resonating with the stories and aspirations of millions of passengers who pass through its gates, making it a key player in Nigeria’s journey towards an interconnected world.
2. Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja
The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport stands as a testament to Nigeria’s commitment to modernizing its aviation infrastructure in the early 2000s. This international airport, situated in the heart of Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, emerged as a pivotal development in the nation’s aviation landscape. It marked its official inauguration and commencement of operations in the year 2002.
Strategically positioned to cater to the burgeoning needs of Abuja, the political epicenter of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport plays an indispensable role as the primary aviation gateway serving the city and its surrounding regions. Much like its counterpart in Lagos State, this versatile airport adeptly juggles both domestic and international flight operations, thereby providing seamless air travel access to passengers for both domestic and global destinations. The airport sprawls across a substantial expanse of approximately 20 square kilometers, further reinforcing its significance in Nigeria’s aviation network.
The name of this airport holds deep historical resonance as it pays tribute to Nigeria’s first president, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, a towering figure in the country’s history. This nomenclature choice serves as a fitting honor to a leader whose legacy continues to shape Nigeria’s political and cultural landscape.
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the regulatory body overseeing the nation’s airports, reports that Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport consistently processes a substantial volume of passengers on an annual basis, totaling no less than 4 million travelers. This figure encompasses both local and international passengers, reaffirming the airport’s vital role as a conduit for diverse journeys.
Moreover, the airport’s infrastructure was thoughtfully designed with scalability in mind, boasting the capacity to handle up to an impressive 11 million passengers annually, should the need arise. It is worth noting that Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport has also garnered recognition and patronage from renowned international carriers such as Lufthansa and Ethiopian Airlines, underscoring its status as a preferred destination for travelers navigating the global skies.
In summary, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is a pivotal emblem of Nigeria’s commitment to advancing its aviation sector. As it continues to serve as a central hub for travelers, both domestic and international, it stands as a testament to the nation’s aspirations for seamless, world-class air travel experiences and remains deeply intertwined with the history and progress of Nigeria.
3. Port Harcourt International Airport
The Port Harcourt International Airport represents a significant milestone in Nigeria’s quest for modernized aviation infrastructure. This state-of-the-art airport, strategically situated in the capital city of Rivers State, heralds a new era in the region’s connectivity and air travel convenience. As an integral part of Nigeria’s aviation network, it falls under the purview of ownership and operation by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
Beyond serving as a vital transportation hub for the residents of Rivers State, the Port Harcourt International Airport plays a pivotal role in facilitating air travel access for residents of neighboring South-Southern States, thus enhancing regional connectivity and economic interactions.
Distinguishing itself as a versatile aviation facility, the Port Harcourt International Airport adeptly manages a dual portfolio, overseeing both domestic and international flight operations. Notably, this airport entered a new era of significance in 2018 when it was officially commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari, marking a monumental step forward in the nation’s aviation infrastructure development.
At the core of this airport’s allure lies its commitment to modernity and passenger convenience, manifesting in a suite of new and contemporary facilities. These amenities not only enhance the travel experience but also underscore the airport’s readiness to cater to the evolving needs of travelers in the 21st century.
In the year 2019, the Port Harcourt International Airport achieved a remarkable feat by facilitating the movement of over 1.5 million passengers. This substantial figure encompassed both domestic and international travelers, highlighting the airport’s growing popularity and capacity to meet the demands of a diverse array of passengers.
In essence, the Port Harcourt International Airport emerges as a symbol of Nigeria’s ambition to offer world-class aviation services and connectivity. Its modernity, extensive reach, and impressive passenger volume underscore its critical role in shaping the region’s transportation landscape and promoting economic growth.
4. Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport
The Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, located in the historical Kano State of Nigeria, holds a venerable status as a vital air travel facility serving the region. Steeped in history, this airport’s roots trace back to its former identity as the Royal Air Force station before Nigeria’s triumphant emergence as an independent nation in 1960, at which point it was bestowed with the name it carries today.
Notably, Mallam Aminu International Airport holds a place of prominence as not only one of Nigeria’s significant aviation hubs but also as the nation’s oldest airport. It proudly claims the distinction of being the very first airport ever established in Nigeria. In the annals of Nigeria’s aviation history, this airport occupies a hallowed position as the site where the maiden plane touched down on Nigerian soil in the year 1922, a momentous event that heralded the nation’s aviation journey. Subsequently, the airport commenced passenger operations in the year 1936, further solidifying its role as a pioneering entity in Nigeria’s aviation landscape.
Over the years, Mallam Aminu International Airport has continued to evolve, embracing modernity while preserving its rich historical legacy. In the year 2008, the airport achieved a significant milestone by registering a commendable passenger volume exceeding 500,000. This figure encompasses both domestic and international travelers, attesting to the airport’s robust capacity to accommodate a diverse spectrum of passengers and flights.
Moreover, Mallam Aminu International Airport stands as a unique aviation facility, serving both civilian and military purposes. This dual functionality underscores its strategic importance and its contribution to both civil air travel and defense operations.
In summary, the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport not only symbolizes Nigeria’s aviation heritage but also reflects the nation’s enduring commitment to fostering connectivity and progress. Its legacy spans nearly a century, bearing witness to the evolution of air travel in Nigeria and its enduring role in serving the people of Kano State and beyond.
fadilaMaikiriki: I'm claustrophobic. So, I'm wondering if I can comfortably board a plane without having the unpleasant symptoms and experience that comes with having this condition. Please, I would like to know. Has anyone here with this condition travel on a plane before? Please, I would like to know. This has been bothering me. My heart races so hard whenever I have this thought.
Please, I would appreciate your inputs.
Thanks.
The will of God for you is not for you to be Clastrophohobic. That is the will of the devil. Not God.
The heavens dont know what fear is.
Same way, the children of God dont know what fear is
Why?
Becos it is written in His word "For God has not given us the spirit of Fear. But the spirit of Power, Love and a Sound Disciplined Mind" - 2 Timothy 1 vs 17
We don't know what fear is.
Speak this word over your life 20 times daily and you will start believing in it.
Don't let the devil give you a load which God who created you did not give you
Travel / The Three Historic And Iconic Female Concorde Pilots by Racoon(m): 1:59pm On Apr 11
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