737 Classic era comes to an end at British Airways

More than three decades of Boeing 737 service at British Airways (BA) is due to come to an end in the next few weeks as the carrier retires its last examples of the twinjet.

BA has just three 737 Classics remaining in service, the last survivors of what was, at its height, a 39-strong fleet serving domestic and European destinations.

The UK carrier took delivery from Boeing of its first 737-200 in 1980 to start replacing the Hawker Siddeley Trident and has also operated the -300 and -500 series variants since then. In all, BA has operated well over 100 of the Boeing narrowbodies.

For many years the mainstay of BA’sshort-haul fleet, the 737 has slowly been replaced by the Airbus A320 family. The remaining examples have for some years operated out of London Gatwick on European routes.

Specialist websites have predicted that the last service will be a London Gatwick-Turin round trip on Sept. 30, but a BA spokeswoman said that the date and destination of the last flight had yet to be confirmed and could change for operational reasons.

The aircraft were likely to be sold on to a new operator, she said.