Lufthansa Says Goodbye to Boeing 737 Fleet

Lufthansa officially retired its fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft on Monday after 48 years. The last commercial flight of the carrier’s plane, a 737-300 with registration D-ABEF (christened “Weiden in der Oberpfalz”), landed at Frankfurt Airport on Saturday, October 29, with 131 passengers on board.

“For Captain Ulrich Pade and his crew, this last flight was a special and moving occasion”, Lufthansa said in an announcement.

After landing in Frankfurt, the passengers applauded and had the opportunity to take photos in the cockpit afterwards. Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, was also present to thank the crews in person.

Shortly before this, three further B737 aircraft had also landed, arriving from Stuttgart, Geneva und Leipzig/Halle. As a sign of honor they were led by “follow-me” cars to the parking position in front of terminal 2. A crowd of aircraft fans and plane spotters could take a final look at the planes from the Visitor’s Terrace.

The retired planes will be transferred to Florida in the coming weeks, where they will be resold. In future, Lufthansa will offer continental services with a single type of aircraft, which will result in synergies in various areas, such as pilot licensing, cabin crew and planning and provision of spare parts. The Lufthansa A320 family currently consists of around 150 A319, A320 and A321 aircraft and also includes four aircraft of the latest generation – the A320neo.