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| Courtesy: Mick Kelly |
On Thursday 24th October Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) operated it’s last MD80 flight to Dublin Airport.
The final Dublin flight SAS2537/8 from and to Copenhagen was operated by LN-RMM construction number 53005, with the type having served for twenty five years, its predecessor, the DC-9 served Dublin for many years.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) MD80s connection with Ireland goes beyond it’s Dublin schedule services as SAS contracted Shannon Aerospace to maintain the type for many years, which continues today with it’s Boeing 737 fleet
Today Saturday 26th October the final schedule service operated by SE-DIR SAS403/2 operated from Copenhagen to and from Stockholm Arlanda. It’s final departure a special charter flight to Oslo at 1300 CET.
SAS Airlines Country Manager Ireland Alan Sparling said “For sure, the MD-80 is an iconic aircraft and anybody who has flown in one knows how unique it is. Although it is with a tinge of sadness that I say goodbye to the MD-80, in its place, we continue to phase in Boeing 737NG and Airbus A320′s every month and in less than three years, SAS will be one of the first airlines to use the Airbus 320neo. We are thrilled to receive the new aircraft, which will offer our customers even more comfort onboard”.
The airline began the phase out of the type in 2012 originally planned to complete the process by 2016, which accelerated due market conditions and sales to operators in the United States. SAS MD-80 aircraft fleet, which was one of the largest in the world in the mid-1990s, with over 70 aircraft in use.
SAS will replace current MD-80s with Airbus A320 aircraft, fuel consumption is about 30 percent lower per seat kilometer, ahead of deliveries of the Airbus A320neo as part of restructuring under it’s Excellence Next Generation (4XNG) plan.
The SAS morning service will continue to be operated by SAS’s Finnish subsidiary Blue1 using B717 (an MD-80 series development with the Boeing label) and the evening service will be an A320.
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 26th October All Rights Reserved.
