Titan Airways Retires Its Last Boeing 757
Last week, Titan Airways announced the retirement of its final Boeing 757-200, reg. G-ZAPX. The aircraft flew its final flight on May 4, 2023.
Last week, Titan Airways announced the retirement of its final Boeing 757-200, reg. G-ZAPX. The aircraft flew its final flight on May 4, 2023.
DALLAS — Titan Airways (ZT) announced the retirement of its final Boeing 757-200, reg. G-ZAPX, on May 11, 2023. The aircraft flew its final flight on May 4, 2023, from Accra to London-Stansted Airport (STN), where it is now parked.
Titan operated four different Boeing 757-200s between 2003 and 2023. The airline has become an all-Airbus operator with the retirement of G-ZAPX and of its final Boeing 737 last month.
The British charter, founded in 1988, is based at STN. The carrier specializes in short-notice ACMI and wet lease operations, as well as ad hoc passenger and cargo charter services for tour operators, corporations, governments, and the sports and entertainment industries.
The Boeing 757, which was developed alongside the 767 in the late 1970s, changed the game for airlines. Both aircraft boasted capabilities such as long-range, passenger capacity and comfort, common two-man cockpits, and great economics.
The first Boeing 757 was produced in Renton, Washington, in 1982. On March 29, 1991, a 757 with only one engine took off, circled, and landed at Tibet's 11,621-foot-high (3542-meter-high) Gonggar Airport (LXA). Despite the fact that the airfield was in a box canyon surrounded by peaks rising more than 16,400 feet (4998 meters), the plane performed flawlessly, according to Boeing.
Boeing decided to discontinue the 757 production in late 2003 because the increased capabilities of its latest 737s and the new 787 met the needs of the 757 market, which was capable up to that point of a capacity of 200 to 228 passengers.
Boeing delivered the final 757-passenger plane to Shanghai Airlines on April 27, 2005, capping off a remarkable 23-year run. The plane was the 1,050th Boeing 757 ever built.
Continental Airlines had the most Boeing 757s, with 41 aircraft in total. Many are still in use today, though mostly as freighters.
Titan Airways G-ZAPX Boeing 757-256. Photo: Alberto Cucini/Airways
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