Shanghai Airlines (Shanghai) has retired its last Boeing 757-200 from revenue service. The pictured Boeing 757-26D B-2875 (msn 33966) on March 21 operated flight FM 9172 from Harbin to Shanghai (Pudong) according to wcarn.com.
Shanghai Airlines added the first Boeing 757-200 in 1993.
Copyright Photo: Royal S. King/AirlinersGallery.com. B-2875 was delivered new on March 31, 2005.
Shanghai Airlines aircraft slide show: 
Air France (Paris) is downsizing the number of Boeing 747-400 (above) routes next winter to only one route; the Paris (CDG) – Mexico City route, starting on October 25, per Airline Route.
Air France has been a long-time operator of the Boeing 747 going back to the original 747-128 (below). The airline is planning to operate its last Boeing 747-400 revenue flight in 2016.
Above Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 747-128 F-BPVD (msn 19752) taxies to the gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on May 18, 1971. F-BPVD is painted in the original 1959 livery.
Top Copyright Photo: Gilbert Hechema/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 747-4B3 F-GEXB (msn 24155) approaches the runway at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL).
Air France aircraft slide show:
China Eastern Airlines (Shanghai) is planning to operate its last Airbus A340-600 revenue flight on April 29. Tentatively the last scheduled flight is scheduled between Toronto (Pearson) and Shanghai (Pudong) on April 29 per Airline Route. The flight will land in Shanghai the following day. The airline acquired the type in 2003 and recently replaced the aging type with newer Boeing 777-300 ERs.
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A340-642 B-6051 (msn 488) climbs away from the
China Eastern aircraft slide show:
Northwest Airlines-NWA McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 N8929E (msn 45866) MSP (Bruce Drum) (Delta retires the last DC-9-31/32 from scheduled service), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) has retired the last Douglas DC-9-31/32 from scheduled service. The last flight was flight DL 2106 from Detroit to Manchester, NH on September 6. A few aircraft will be retained through October as operational spares and as charter aircraft.
Previously Delta retired the type in June 1975 but inherited the type again with the merger with Northwest Airlines.
The DC-9-41s (still unpainted) and DC-9-51s (repainted) continue to operate on scheduled Delta routes.
Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum. DC-9-31 N8929E (msn 45866) prepares to land at Minneapolis/St. Paul hub. None of the DC-9-31/32s were repainted in Delta’s colors due to the impeding retirement.
JAL-Japan Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-81 (MD-81) JA8553 (msn 53298) FUK (John Adlard) (last DC-9-81 to be retired in September), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
JAL-Japan Airlines (Tokyo) will be retiring the last McDonnell Douglas DC-9-81 (MD-81) (all ex-JAS) at the end of September. As a way of saying goodbye to the classic, JAL will conduct a “MD-81 Farewell Tour” on September 19-20. On the first day, the aircraft (registration is undecided at this time) will depart from Osaka (KIX) at 8:45 a.m. (0845), arriving at Oki (OKI) at 9:45 a.m. (0945). At Oki passengers will be able to walk around the tarmac to take photos of the aircraft. At 3 p.m. (1500), the airliner will leave Oki for Sapporo (CTS), arriving at 5 p.m. (1700). On the second day, the aircraft will leave CTS
at 7:45 a.m. (0745), arriving at OKI at 9:45 a.m. (0945). Passengers on the special flight will again be able to take photos, plus the aircraft will perform touch-and-go’s on this day. At 4:30 p.m. (1630) the airliner will leave OKI for KIX, arriving at 5:35 p.m. (1745). Tickets are being sold by JALTours.
In other retirement news, JAL quietly phased out its last three Boeing 767-200s. JA8231 was withdrawn from service in December 2009 and both JA8232 and JA8233 were withdrawn from scheduled service in March 2010 and became back-up equipment. JA8233 left the fleet on June 4, 2010 followed by JA8232 on June 11, 2010.
Copyright Photo: John Adlard. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-81 (MD-81) JA8553 (msn 53298) prepares to land at Fukuoka.
Gol Transportes Aereos Boeing 737-322 PR-GLO (msn 23952) GRU (Marcelo F. De Biasi) (737-300 now retired), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Gol Transportes Aereos (Sao Paulo) has now retired and parked its remaining Boeing 737-300s.
On the financial side, parent Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. has reported a $30 million second quarter loss. Read the full report:
Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi. The last 737-300 to be operated was this ex-United 737-322 PR-GLO (msn 23952) pictured at Sao Paulo (Guarulhos).
Finnair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 OH-LGG (msn 48753) (Official airline of Santa Claus) JFK (Eric Dunetz) (Finnair retires the MD-11), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Copyright Photo: Eric Dunetz.
Finnair (Helsinki) today (February 22) operated its last scheduled passenger flight with a McDonnell Douglas MD-11. OH-LGG (msn 48753) operated flight AY 022 from Delhi to Helsinki. The same aircraft will fly at least one charter flight from Vancouver to Helsinki on March 2. The two MD-11s owned by Finnair are for sale. The possibility of continuing to use them in Finnair’s cargo operation is also being assessed. The MD-11 flew around 400,000 flying hours and had more than 50,000 landings. Overall the fleet carried around 14 million passengers.
Please click on the link below for the full story.
Eurowings BAe 146-200 D-AEWF (msn E2184) (Lufthansa Regional) NUE (type retirement on March 22), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Eurowings (Dortmund) is planning to retire its last BAe 146 on March 22 with flight LH 921 between Nuremberg and Frankfurt.
Meanwhile the company is preparing to slash its fleet and payroll. Approximately 600 to 700 jobs will be cut (out of 1,257 employees). Eurowings will phase out 18 CRJ200s and two CRJ700s. The first CRJ200 was retired in November 2009.
News link:
www.thelocal.de/money/20100119-24683.html
Copyright Photo: Gunter Mayer.
KLM Cityhopper Fokker F.27 Mk. 050 PH-LXJ (msn 20270) NUE (type to be retired March 27, 2010), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
KLM Cityhopper (Amsterdam) will retire its last Fokker F.27 Mk. 050 (Fokker 50) from revenue service on March 27.
Copyright Photo: Gunter Mayer. Fokker F.27 Mk. 050 PH-LXJ (msn 20270) stops at Nuremberg.
Gestair Cargo (formerly Cygnus Air) (Madrid) as the last European operator will retire its last McDonnell Douglas DC-8 this month when DC-8-73 (F) EC-IGZ (msn 46133) will be retired.
Press release: