Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has retired its last Avro RJ100 short haul airliner from service, after 15 years of operation. T...
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has retired its last Avro RJ100 short haul airliner from service, after 15 years of operation.
The last of a total of 21 aircraft took off from Geneva on Tuesday morning and made its last official landing at Zurich airport.
Immediately after landing in Zurich, the aircraft registered under HB-IYZ received the traditional water fountain salute by the airport fire brigade before being officially taken out of service to loud applause from a crowd of employees and aviation fans.
The Avro RJ100 and its smaller version, the Avro RJ85, formed the backbone of the SWISS European fleet since the company was founded in 2002.
The Avro fleet has completed over 700,000 hours in the air. During that time SWISS made over half a million flights with this British Aerospace (BAe) aircraft.
With their record for excellent maintenance quality, these former SWISS aircraft remain in high demand despite their age, and will go into service with other airlines.
SWISS continues to push ahead with the program of fleet modernization which it commenced in early 2016.
By the end of 2018, another 20 Bombardier C Series aircraft will join the existing fleet of 10 currently deployed on our short and medium-haul routes.
On the long-haul routes, two further Boeing 777-300ERs will replace part of the Airbus A340 fleet by spring 2018.
Powered by four Lycoming ALF 502 i turbofan engines, the BAe 146/RJ100 was known for its quiet operation and was widely used from small city airports. Production ran from 1978 to 2001, manufacturing 387 aircraft, making it the most successful British commercial aircraft program.
