In the past few days both Air India and Thai Airways have formally retired their Boeing 747-400 fleets after months of inactivity. Both airlines grounded their remaining 747 aircraft a long time ago, but the aircraft were kept active and stored at their respective hubs awaiting potential sale.   Air India Sells Remaining 747s Now that’s what you call a befitting tribute ! Any #AvGeek / #aviation enthusiast with tear up after watching this. Full marks to the teams at @CSMIA_Official and @airindia for this remarkable video capturing the departure of the #B747.pic.twitter.com/yfX4NV38IN — V ..read more

When France’s Sud Aviation developed its new Caravelle airliner in the 1950s, it hoped to take the aviation industry by storm. The introduction of jet airliners had been gathering pace, with the de Havilland Comet paving the way in the 1940s, and the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 following in the early 1950s. All, however, were targeting long-haul travel. That’s where Sud Aviation hoped to capitalise, for its Caravelle was aimed at short- and medium-haul travel – the domain so far of ageing piston and early turboprop airliners. It hoped to attract airlines to the marvels of jet travel, with its ..read more

California is a place of travel, industry and business, and one of the most populous parts of the United States. As a result, the state is full of interesting airports and aviation operations which, combined with good sun and warmth, make it a great place for plane spotting. Here are the best airports for plane spotting in California…   Los Angeles International Undoubtedly the busiest and most popular airport for spotting in California. LAX, as it is usually known, is a mega hub for major US airlines and also on the route networks of most major international carriers. The airport has fou ..read more

Established in 1963 by the then King Hussain of Jordan and named after his eldest child, Alia, this was originally a private airline although later taken over by the Jordanian government and established as the country’s flag carrier. Today we know it as Royal Jordanian Airlines, and it recently introduced a new livery with the introduction of its first Embraer E2 and Airbus A321P2F aircraft.   Royal Jordanian Airlines History RuthAS, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Regional services with Douglas DC-7s and Handley Page Heralds were the ..read more

Between 1953 and 1992 Dan-Air became one of the UK’s largest, best known and most popular independent airlines. Throughout this period it operated a range of aircraft types, including Airspeed Ambassadors, de Havilland Comets, Hawker Siddeley 748s, BAC One-Elevens, Boeing 727s and Boeing 737s, each with different passenger capacities which provided flexibility in meeting the varying requirements of the tour operators that it served. At the beginning of 1986 there was a significant step change in the type of aircraft Dan-Air offered when it obtained its first wide-body airliner, the Airbus A300 ..read more

Turkey is a very popular holiday destination in Europe, particularly for those in the colder, northern parts of the continent, like the UK and Germany. Its resorts play host to many vacationers every summer, with airports scattered around the country catering to inbound tourist flights – places like Antalya, Dalaman and Izmir. Turkey itself has a number of leisure airlines which fly these routes either in their own right, or on behalf of other airlines or holiday companies. Here’s a guide to Turkey’s airline fleets this summer:   AJet Acode37, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Formerly Anadolu ..read more

  This article looks at the latest special liveries and new airliner deliveries of airlines around the world for plane spotters to go see and photograph. Which is your favourite? Leave a comment below!   Aeromexico Sephora Livery Aeromexico has introduced this special livery promoting the Sephora brand on its Boeing 737-800 XA-AME.   Air Senegal LET 410s The smart livery of Air Senegal now appears on the airline’s first LET 410NG aircraft, which started arriving in March. They are being used on short domestic hops to small and remote airfields. The first two aircraft are OK-NG ..read more

Eastern Air Lines still remains one of the great names in aviation, and one of the much lamented lost carriers from our skies. Its silver fleet of aircraft once plied the US domestic routes and dominated its home turf of Atlanta and Florida, with even some key international services flown. Despite having been founded in 1926, Eastern sadly ceased flying in 1991.   Eastern and the Boeing 757 In the late 1970s Eastern Air Lines – under the leadership of enigmatic former astronaut Frank Borman – was looking to turn around years of losses. One of its key plans was to replace older Boeing 727 ..read more

  On 31 March 2024 the new KM Malta Airlines replaced its predecessor, Air Malta, as the flag carrier of the tiny Mediterranean island nation. Air Malta had been struggling financially for many years, and so the government planned a newly recapitalised airline which would take over its assets and operations and start afresh. Interestingly, the ultimate aim is to reintroduce the Air Malta branding. But for the time being the new airline is known as KM Malta Airlines, after the IATA code used on its flights. Aircraft will wear a slighly modified version of the livery of Air Malta, but not a ..read more

Our close friends Justplanes.com have just released an amazing new video in their cockpit series which focuses on South American carrier Surinam Airways. Surinam Airways are quite a small carrier, with a fleet of only two aircraft – one Boeing 737-800 for short- and medium-haul routes around the Caribbean and to Miami, and one Airbus A340-300 which serves the important link across the Atlantic to Amsterdam Schiphol in the Netherlands.   Justplanes Surinam Airways Video The new video from Justplanes features almost five hours of footage taken aboard both of the aircraft in the Surnam fleet ..read more