Almost 55 years after making its first commercial flight with Eastern Airlines, the famous Boeing 727 last flew with passengers on Sunday, January 13.
The airline responsible for this flight was Iran’s Aseman Airlines, the only airline in the world to use the old airplane to carry passengers, but officially did not confirm that information. Instead, an Iranian journalist reported on Twitter.
Owner of an aging fleet and considered unsafe, Aseman lost an ATR-72 in an accident last year. The airline had revealed interest in acquiring 30 Boeing 737 MAXs, however, the embargoes inflicted by the Trump government prevent them from occurring.
Despite this, Aseman finally decided to retire his last 727, the -200 Advanced version and at 38 years old – had been originally ordered by Air France.
With outdated turbofan engines, the 727 is a jet that has stopped flying in more developed countries for many years. In addition to consuming a lot of fuel, the trijet is extremely noisy, which prevents it from being used in many airports.
Even so, today there are at least 50 aircraft in use, all of them freighters – with the exception of the three Aseman units.
Sales success
The 727 was Boeing’s second commercial jet after the successful four-engine 707. It was designed to be a short- and medium-haul aircraft capable of meeting the needs of several US airlines. However, the first version, 727-100, did not have a great acceptance, which made Boeing launch a larger and most advanced model, the 727-200.
With three engines installed on the tail and beautiful wings and stabilizers, 727 became Boeing’s biggest success for many years, with more than 1,800 aircraft sold, a milestone that was only surpassed by the 737 in the early 1990s.
As for the 727 from Aseman, it is never too much to remember that American embargoes may force the Iranian airline to take back the old retirement trijet again if it needs airplanes.
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