Lufthansa 737-300

[Jule Watkinson]

Overalmost half a century, German flag carrier Lufthansa operated 155 Boeing 737 family aircraft. However, this year will mark five years since the airline took its final flight with the type. But what happened to Lufthansa's American narrowbody twinjets, and where are they today?

Building on the designs of the 707 and 727, Boeing proposed the concept of a cheaper twin-engine jetliner in 1964. Lufthansa loved this idea, and immediately placed an order for the type. The German carrier became the launch customer of the 737-100 in February 1968.

Over the next three years, Lufthansa would receive a further 21 of the type, making it by far the plane's largest operator. Boeing only produced 30 -100s, meaning that Lufthansa operated nearly 75% of them! Lufthansa's last -100 left the airline in 1982.

The next variant that Boeing produced was the 737-200. This had an extended fuselage compared to the -100, allowing for a greater passenger capacity. Lufthansa eventually ordered and operated 47 examples of this variant. By the slimmest of margins, this made it the most common 737 version in its fleet, and the final example departed the carrier in 1998.

According to Planespotters.net, Lufthansa received its first -200 in December 1969. Its final example arrived in March 1985. However, the airline would receive a handful more in later years, either on a second-hand basis or as they returned to Lufthansa following leases to other carriers.

Just seven -400s, which were the largest variant from the Classic series, flew for Lufthansa. Meanwhile, 33 -500s had a place with the airline. At only 31 meters long, the -500 was the Classic series' smallest example.

Unfortunately for Boeing, while the 737 Classic series was gripping the market, interest in a competitor aircraft was also on the rise. The Airbus A320 launched in 1984, fast becoming a strong alternative to the 737 family. Being produced in Europe added to its appeal to the German airline, and it began receiving A320-200s in 1989.

In terms of the A320 family's other variants, these were also popular with the German flag carrier. It has operated 35 smaller A319s, of which 23 remain in its fleet, as well as 64 longer A321s. Lufthansa launched this aircraft in 1994, and it now also has six next-generation A321neo planes in its fleet.

However, the last revenue passenger flight had already taken place two days before, using D-ABEF from Nuremberg to Frankfurt. Half a century of love for the Boeing 737 at the German flag carrier came to an end with these flights.

In terms of Lufthansa's 737-100s, we can confidently say that none are around today. There are no 737-100s still in operation around the world, and, apart from a few museum pieces, all have now been scrapped.

Of the 737-200s, a surprising number are still around. While some have been scrapped, some remain in storage, with others even remaining in use today. These can be found among various airlines in South America, such as Colombian cargo carrier Aerosucre. Transporte Areo Militar (TAM) also operates two ex-Lufthansa -200s. TAM is a Bolivian Air Force owned airline offering flights to rural communities in the nation.

One ex Lufthansa -200 had a particularly eventful service life. D-ABCE, named Landshut, was the subject of a hijacking by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in October 1977. This eventually saw the aircraft end up in Mogadishu, Somalia. There, German counter-terrorism police and the Somali armed forces were able to storm the aircraft, rescuing 90 passengers.

It was converted to a cargo aircraft in 1995, and plans have since been drawn up to preserve it at the Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen. However, one Lufthansa plane did not have such a happy ending. D-ABHD crashed while attempting to land in Izmir, Turkey in 1988, killing all 11 passengers and five crew onboard.

Of the 46 737-300s, 22 were scrapped by Lufthansa at the end of their useful life. 15 were sold to financing firm Automatic LLC, and the rest to other airlines. Some have gone on to be scrapped, and others are in storage.

Despite certain examples being over 30 years old, some even remain in service. Seven were converted to cargo aircraft, while others continue to see active passenger-carrying service worldwide, from Malaysia to Chile.

The -400s, of which Lufthansa had just seven, have had a mixed fate. One has been broken up, five are in storage, and a single example also remains in active service today. This aircraft now flies for Maltese charter airline Air Horizont. It previously flew for Blue Panorama, as you can see below.

15 of the -500s were scrapped by Lufthansa themselves at the end of their service life. Of the other 18, three were sold to Braathens, two are being preserved, and the rest went to Automatic LLC again.

In terms of Lufthansa's two preserved aircraft, the German flag carrier has retained D-ABIA and D-ABJI. One is at Hamburg, and one is at Frankfurt, with both being used for training by Lufthansa Technik. Automatic LLC also went on to see two of its ex-Lufthansa -500s preserved. These aircraft have both ended up 'KidZania' immersive children's play centers. One can be found in Heredia, Costa Rica, and the other in Frisco, Texas.

However, the Lufthansa Group was said at the time to be considering both this option, and that of ordering more aircraft from the A320neo family. Either way, it does not change the rich half-century of history that Boeing's popular twinjet has already enjoyed with the German flag carrier.

Last Saturday saw the last commercial flight of a 737 in Lufthansa service, but the plane has a huge following among "Lufhanseats", and we were not willing to just let it go like that. So together with the 737-fleet administration a plan was made to bid farewell to the 737 in style.

Two 737-300s were scheduled to fly to Heviz, Hungary (the "FlyBalaton" airport) on November, 1st - spend the night there and then fly back to Frankfurt on the 2nd. After that there was a farewell event in one of the huge maintenance hangars on the airport. Here are some pics:

After a nice celebration dinner in a downtown hotel, meeting with many colleagues and friends and a whole evening of "talking 737" we headed back out to the airport the next morning. Our two fine "Bobbies" waiting for us on the apron:

Finally they pulled the plane out of the hangar in a symbolic "roll-out". The aircraft will be flown to the U.S. over the next few weeks, some of them will continue to fly there. So if you see any of them, give them my best...

I'm still trying to figure out who has the better "job." The flight school classmate of Jan's who is now the big boss CEO, or Jan, who gets to fly transport category aircraft for a living. Tough call.

Finally it happens. I remember you told me Lufthansa decided to migrate from 737s. Now it is done. This plane is a very great thing of course, but people are the most important. Thank you very much for your passion with 737 and your efforts to bring us a part of this beauty with IXEG product. I am a very lucky person to get to know you. All the best to you and your family! Cheer up!

Seeing this topic, I'd like to share my experience with Lufthansa B733 this summer. I was on my way back home from a trip to England on 16th July. D-ABED(LH941)took me from EGCC to EDDF, then D-AIGL(LH780) took me from EDDF to ZSNJ(Nanjing, China). One thing to be mentioned, the aircraft for LH941 was A320 when booking this flight but about one month before departure, the type changed to B733. At that moment, I was flying IXEG B733 frequently on VATSIM, that news made me really excited. This was my first time but also my last time to fly Lufthansa B733.

Moments after departure. It was the first time that SWISS CS100 flew to Manchester that day. I could see groups of people gathering at the spotting location near runway 23L when I was lining up the runway.

Lufthansa Group has ordered forty A220-300s from Airbus for its new short- and medium-haul unit Lufthansa Lufthansa City Airlines (VL, Munich), alongside forty B737-8s from Boeing for an undisclosed subsidiary other than Lufthansa or Swiss.

The group said the order, approved by the Supervisory Board on December 19, also includes options for twenty more A220-300s. The holding ordered its first thirty A220-100s (then still known as the CS100) in 2009, all earmarked for Swiss. The carrier completed the deliveries in May 2021. After variant conversions, it currently operates nine A220-100s and twenty-one A220-300s, according to the ch-aviation fleets module.

Lufthansa City Airlines is due to launch in Summer 2024 as a new short- and medium-haul capacity provider for the mainline and a sister carrier to Lufthansa CityLine (CL, Munich). Its fleet currently comprises a single A319-100. The first A220-300 will be delivered in 2026. The carrier plans to base the new type out of both of its Frankfurt International and Munich bases.

"Since the planned growth path for both Lufthansa Airlines including Lufthansa City Airlines and Swiss is already backed by aircraft orders, the Boeing 737 MAX will be used in one of the Lufthansa Group's other flight operations. The decision on this will be made at a later date," the holding said.

The first B737 MAX is due for delivery in the third quarter of 2027. Lufthansa Group does not currently operate any Boeing narrowbodies, having retired the last B737-300s from Lufthansa's fleet in 2016. Austrian Airlines (OS, Vienna) and Brussels Airlines (SN, Brussels National) also operated B737s in the past but retired them even earlier.

Get full unrestricted access to all ch-aviation features and data including worldwide airline fleets, schedules and route network with drilldowns available at your fingertips on every screen - updated daily for industry professionals like you.

We offer a comprehensive airline industry database utilised by various entities such as operators, airports, charter brokers, aircraft finance, lease and trading, OEMs, MROs, technical suppliers, and technology providers.

3a8082e126