We used to heave threads on flying with classic and rare aircraft. We don’t have one running at the moment so I thought I start one with an initial overview.

This list is by no means exhaustive so any update is welcome, especially for example for Biman and Berjaya Air.
Let’s hope there will be a lively discussion and sharing of ideas as we had in the past.

Iran:
B707: Saha is still flying their B707. SHV and SHU are still reported active and there are no A300 in the fleet for last minute substitutions.
B747-300: Mahan still flies theirs, apparently mainly on domestic flights and rarely to DXB where Ronerone was lucky and wrote a fantastic report
B747SP: Still scheduled to PEK, BKK and KUL but no more regular flights to BOM or IST according to Iran Air

Plus of course while one is there A300B4, A300-600, A310-300, MD-80s, B727-200, FK-100 and IRAN 140.

Biman:
DC 10-30 – are still going strong and supposed to be back on the shuttles to AUH and the HKG flights after the Hadj. Sadly all FK-28 are now withdrawn from service.

Venezuela:
Due to cheap fuel still a paradise for classic jets. B737-200 of Venezuelana, Conviasa and Avior. DC9-30/50 with Aeropostal, Aserca and Laser.


I haven’t had a detailed look into Russian airlines recently but there aren’t that many around these days even in Russia.

IL-86
Sadly all majestic IL-86s are now gone. I was lucky enough to be on 2 flights with Atlant Soyuz and still cherish the experience.

IL-96
Aeroflot: Still around mainly on holiday flights like LCA, HER, AYT etc. Will be flying to SZG again this winter
Cubana: Stopped their flights to LGW but still flying to ORY and MAD

IL-114
Not sure about the status with Uzbekistan but I think they are gone. Dont think there are any others.

YAK-42
Probably the easiest one. Still guaranteed with Saravia and Izhavia. Bit harder with Gazpromavia and quite unlikely with Kuban and will go soon. As far as I know Tulpar is also flying one for UT Air.

TU-154
Once the workhorse of Soviet/Russia aviation but no only very few are still around. Alrosa first comes to mind now that South Air and KMV are gone. UT still has a few but not on trunk routes.

But of course there is North Korea…

North Korea
I assume everybody had read one of the many brilliant reports from North Korea. There are more tours planned for 2012 with a chance to fly on TU154, TU-134, IL62M, IL78 and IL-18. However there are rumours that the IL62M may not fly internationally anymore in 2012 which means more expensive domestic charters. But on the plus side Air Koryo just bought an IL62M from Cubana for spares which indicates that they want to keep them flying for a while. Generally there are rumours about more TU-204 and first AN-148 being added to the fleet.

DASH 7
I read that Berjaya Air will retire theirs at the end of the year. Does anyone have any updates? In addition there is Air Kenya and Greenland though the later is introducing the DASH 8-200. I think LTA still has one as well.

BAE ATP
Still easy to get in Sweden with Nextjet. Are they still leasing one to Sverigefly? As far as I know that was the cheaper option even with a risk of ATR or SB2000 (well that’s not too bad) substitution.

BAE 748
Air North on their regional routes and as far as I know no plans to retire them soon.

Shorts 360
Tiara Air in Aruba and the former Air Seychelles plane in Israel. The Pacific costal one is retired as far as I know.

EMB-110
Insel Air is shuttling between the ABC islands. I am sure there are some more.

FK-28
Lade in Argentina still uses them for scheduled flights.

Monarch
A bit closer to home for many Monarch is still flying 3 A300-600 and 3 rather old B757-200. Any news on routes are welcome as most of the usual suspects always show A320/A321.

Also, mainly for time reasons, I haven’t included a couple of types that are maybe not classic or ultra rare yet. FK-70/100, Sb2000, Do228, Do328 come to mind. These will be around for some more time but it might be wise to get them while it is still relatively easy. Please feel free to add them if you think it will be intrestring

Great to have this thread back.

Just a quick update on the IR 74L's
Was told the other day from a reliable source, that PEK is no longer served, and EP-IAA & IAB are now grounded.

As for the IR Euro fleet, only AB6's IBA-IBD, + 313 IBK are allowed in european skys.

rgds

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): I read that Berjaya Air will retire theirs at the end of the year. Does anyone have any updates?

In September I was told that they have no suitable replacement for flights to Tioman, due to often needing every knot of the DHC7's 20 knot tailwind limit, as well as the very short runway there.


Dan  

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): Shorts 360 Tiara Air in Aruba and the former Air Seychelles plane in Israel. The Pacific costal one is retired as far as I know.

It was indeed retired, but it was flying yesterday on the YVR - Powell River run! I have not had time to check, but my guess is its just a sub - they had an engine fire on a Saab this week and I imagine they are an aircraft down as a result.

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): BAE 748 Air North on their regional routes and as far as I know no plans to retire them soon.

Rumored to be replaced with ATR's next year, but have not heard of any firm action in this regard.

[Edited 2012-11-22 18:39:20]

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): A bit closer to home for many Monarch is still flying 3 A300-600

One is already withdrawn and headed to the scrapman in TUP.

[Edited 2012-11-22 18:40:24]

Here are some additions:

AN24:
There is a pretty safe bet to get an AN24 on the twice daily HAV-GER flight in Cuba, almost no equipment changes, ever. Really cheap too (41$ one way, fixed price that can never change, even bookable online)

B747-300:
Saudia's long haul network, although there can be equipment changes from the original schedules. Apparently, CGK is one of the safest bets.

MD11:
Remains in service with KLM, but to be retired soon. YUL is apparently a safe bet for the time remaining.

Soren   

Tu-154
Air Koryo still operate one example each of the -B and -B2 versions.

There are rumours about Iran Air Tour wanting to return their Tu-154-M fleet into service due to issues they are having with their MD80s.

Kazair Trans have a late build -M version which I believe operates SAW-DMB once a week. I am currently looking into this as a trip option for this winter.

As has already been mentioned, Alrosa are still operating a handful in Russia.


IL-62M
There was some excitement when photos surfaced in 2012 of an IL-62M in Trust Air Company colours, but having made some enquiries, I am told this is a full freighter. When some of us flew the same frame when it was a combi for Deta Air, we were told it was about to become a full freighter, so this makes sense.

One of the Deta Air pax IL-62s which operated for Aria Air in Iran for a short time, before being stored at IKA, has apparently ferried out for Sayat Air. I have made some enquiries about this and apparently it is not active yet but it may be used from next year. I will be keeping my eye on this one, so let's see.

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 4): B747-300: Saudia's long haul network, although there can be equipment changes from the original schedules. Apparently, CGK is one of the safest bets.

According to ATDB, 7 of them were retired recently. I cannot find any in the schedules so it may be too late for those. There is still Mahan Air and PIA.

Quoting UK_Dispatcher (Reply 5): According to ATDB, 7 of them were retired recently. I cannot find any in the schedules so it may be too late for those. There is still Mahan Air and PIA.

Not sure if it means anything, but if you try to make a one way booking on Saudia's web site for CGK-JED for April 2013 (that's when I'm flying) it shows up as 747-300. But the PDF winter schedule that is valid till March shows 777 on that route. so I guess I might be out of luck on this one.

Soren   

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 6): Not sure if it means anything, but if you try to make a one way booking on Saudia's web site for CGK-JED for April 2013 (that's when I'm flying) it shows up as 747-300. But the PDF winter schedule that is valid till March shows 777 on that route. so I guess I might be out of luck on this one.

You're right. It shows a 772 at the moment in GDS, but it reverts to a 743 next season. Maybe this just hasn't been updated yet. Let's see.

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): Shorts 360

Freedom Air is flying the 360 on their GUM-SPN runs as well.

How about the very rare Avro RJ70? Fortunately I was able to fly on it shortly before TF retired type.

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): Not sure about the status with Uzbekistan but I think they are gone. Dont think there are any others.

I had a short connection in Tashkent in September and they still appeared to be active, and it was showing on their timetables as far as I remember. Several parked over near the domestic terminal and one being towed past my aircraft as I was boarding a flight to LHR.

Interestingly, I saw the Trust Air IL62 parked up outside a hangar on the same day.

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): YAK-42 Probably the easiest one. Still guaranteed with Saravia and Izhavia. Bit harder with Gazpromavia and quite unlikely with Kuban and will go soon. As far as I know Tulpar is also flying one for UT Air.

Gazpromavia is easy to catch a Yak-42 on - I did it 2 months ago and the equipment didn't change despite booking 6 months in advance. They're not the cheapest airline, but quite reliable.

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): DASH 7 I read that Berjaya Air will retire theirs at the end of the year. Does anyone have any updates? In addition there is Air Kenya and Greenland though the later is introducing the DASH 8-200. I think LTA still has one as well.

I hadn't heard about Berjaya retiring their DASH 7s, although they are showing their age.

As PlymSpotter points out this is going to kill their flights to Tioman. I hope they can get a replacement of some description since Tioman is one of my favourite weekend getaways from SIN. The only alternative to flying is the bus and ferry, which can often turn in to a bit of an epic.

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): Aeroflot: Still around mainly on holiday flights like LCA, HER, AYT etc. Will be flying to SZG again this winter

Apparently these planes are staying around for a while.

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): Do328 come to mind.

Ultimate Air Shuttle is your best bet. LUK-MDW and LUK-MMU and LUK-CLT shuttles (Cincinnati)

pretty cheap too, enjoyable fight as well.
https://www.ultimateairshuttle.com/

Any DC-8s flying?

Quoting IL62Mdakar (Thread starter): DASH 7 I read that Berjaya Air will retire theirs at the end of the year. Does anyone have any updates? In addition there is Air Kenya and Greenland though the later is introducing the DASH 8-200. I think LTA still has one as well.

Unfortunately, AirGreenland's DH7's are no longer operating on a scheduled basis. There's 3 of them left, all fitted with a cargo door, which are now exclusively used for cargo and the occasional charter flight. You might get lucky on one of their routes but the chances are slim.

DO-328

BRN based Skywork has a fleet of 328's which they use around Europe. They have a fantastic livery and can have reasonable fares. The 328Jet is a different story. IIRC Only SunAir Scandinavia operates them around Europe alongside a few 328 props.


Martijn

[Edited 2012-11-24 22:28:38]

The EAA still operates a Ford Tri-Motor that you can do flights on. I flew on it this past summer and it's well worth the price they are asking.

Jetlink Express suspended their operations a week ago.

So, as the Jetlink F28 is gone, there's only Fly-SAX left in Kenya, which operates a F28-4000 (5Y-EEE).

Any info if 5Y-EEE and DC9-10 5Y-XXA are operating scheduled flights at the moment?


Cheers,
Lars

Great that this thread is back !
Some types not mentioned before in this thread, any comments and corrections welcome

Boeing 727
Also very rare to get on as passenger nowadays...
TAM Bolivia (not to be confused with TAM of Brazil) uses two aircraft on domestic services inside Bolivia. Mainly the trunk route La Paz-Cochabamba-Santa Cruz. I flew on both around 10 november. One might have since been parked as TAM gets more 737-200s.
LAB Bolivia might return in the skies with their own 727s, of which they kept 2 or 3 airworthy since they ceased own operations in 2008, mainly for use by TAM.
Iran Air, Iran Aseman and Ariana Afghan also still have 727s.

Convair 580
best bet is Air Chathams which flies from New Zealand to the Chathams and domestic flights inside Tonga.
Kelowna and Nolinor in Canada, Pionair in Australia and FHG Group in Cape Town have pax configured Convairs but it doesn't seem easy to get on one (unless you bring 40 friends to split the bill).

Fokker F-27
TAM Bolivia uses one on domestic flights (FAB-90) I flew on one on 4 november La Paz-Rurrenabaque. It seems to be flying almost daily the last few weeks.
LADE also sometimes uses a F-27 but it's sometimes not scheduled for a few months. It wasn't flying when I were in Argentina 2 weeks ago but it has been flying 3 months ago.
Myanma Airways, Air Panama and Expo Aviation (Sri Lanka) unfortunately have NOT been flying passengers in the last 2-3 years at least.

Nord 262
Malu Aviation in Congo flies charters between Goma and Kisangani. There have been German daredevils who went there and flew on it but given the current situation around Goma chances are little that we'll get on it, especially as it will be withdrawn reportedly in a few months

Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 14): BRN based Skywork has a fleet of 328's which they use around Europe. They have a fantastic livery and can have reasonable fares.

I've always loved the 328s, they look so much better than the ATR or the Dash8. I've never flown on one, so I just booked myself on a weekend trip in January. In case anybody wants to join me HAM-BRN-ZAG or part thereof, it would be fun to do a trip together. (January 19) The fare is great, 79 EUR for 2 segments. and it's really easy and cheap to get into HAM and out of ZAG from anywhere in Europe.
Anybody want to come?

Soren   

Do the famous Buffalo Airways have passenger flights on DC 3 from Yellowknife to Hay River in Canada?

Quoting Nibog (Reply 19): Do the famous Buffalo Airways have passenger flights on DC 3 from Yellowknife to Hay River in Canada?

Yes, one flight in each direction Monday through Friday. Last week one flight on that route had to shut down an engine and return to Yellowknife. Following from the Transport Canada daily occurrence reports.

TSB reported that the Buffalo Airways Douglas DC-3C (C-GWIR) was operating as flight BFL 168 from Yellowknife, NT (CYZF) to Hay River, NT (CYHY). Approximately 30 nautical miles south of CYZF, the crew detected rising temperatures and decreasing pressures on the right engine (Pratt and Whitney R-1830-92) and carried out a precautionary engine shutdown. BFL 168 diverted back to CYZF where an uneventful single engine landing was carried out. Local crash/fire rescue was put on standby. Buffalo Airways Maintenance advised that the engine oil supply had vented through the rear accessory case breather. It is believed that an internal oil scavenge system failure resulted in a pressurized engine case that prevented oil return to the tank was the cause. The engine has been inspected with no obvious problems. No metal contamination was found in the oil screen. The engine is being sent to overhaul facility for teardown and repair.

I believe Freedom Air still fly both Shorts 330 and 360 around the Mariana Islands.

http://freedomairguam.com/system/2

I haver flown Shorts 360 GUM-ROP-GUM on many occations, but back then they had NWA livery.....

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 18): Anybody want to come?

Yes! What date is this? It'll have to be on a day off and I won't know about that until the 17th of December, which is slightly awkward. But that is a good price, the D328 is on my hitlist and ZAG has an excellent viewing deck I loved spending some time on last year!

Quoting Tupolevtu154 (Reply 22): Yes! What date is this? It'll have to be on a day off and I won't know about that until the 17th of December, which is slightly awkward. But that is a good price, the D328 is on my hitlist and ZAG has an excellent viewing deck I loved spending some time on last year!

Tom that sounds great! The date is January 19, a Saturday, and I'm flying into HAM the night before, and out of ZAG on Sunday. We could share a hotel room and maybe check out Zagreb since we'd arrive around lunchtime so there's plenty of time left. Would be great to do this together!

Soren   

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 23):

Gooood evening!

After a longish absence I'm more or less back on here and stumbled across your plans...

Skywork *rocks* bigtime! Had the pleasure of logging 4 flights on the 328 earlier this year, but hey, why be satisfied with 4 if you can have 6 flights?  
I'm booked on 4U ZAG-STR-BRE on dec. 16th... Flights which I'm likely to no show. As those flights are booked in "best", thus allowing changes, the return ZAG-BRE on jan. 20th would cost me only a 35€ fee for the rebooking.

A no brainer really! So... I'd be game for this, and more than happy to join you!

Also I have plenty of sofa/floor space available in HAM, just in case...

Quoting dba4u (Reply 24): So... I'd be game for this, and more than happy to join you!

Ok perfekt, das hört sich super an!
It would be great to catch up with you. This is turning into a mini A.net meet   So in other words you'd book a fresh HAM-BRN-ZAG at 79EUR for Jan 19, and then catch the ZAG-BRN-BRE segment of your flexible ticket to fly back up on Sunday?

Soren   

Yupp, ZAG-STR-BRE that is. Had those flights planned for october (Train Budapest-Zagreb, and then said flights).
However, Skywork (D'Uh!) came up with a very reasonable oneway BUD-BRN-HAM, so I rebooked those flights to some random later date (Dec. 16th) with no outbound flights, no plans, no nothing. So up until half an hour ago I mentally already bid my farewell to those flights... With the double rebooking I could have already bought that flight twice at it's current fare, but oh well, still better than a no-show!

Ok, that sounds great!
On Friday Jan 18, I'm coming into HAM on Lufthansa at 14:25 (ex STR). So there's still plenty of the Friday left in case you have time. On Saturday Jan 19 the Skywork flights are 9:15-10:55 connecting to 12:15-13:50 Zagreb. Then my flight back home to STR is at 12:10 on Sunday Jan 20, so again there's plenty of time in Zagreb. So how would you fly back home to HAM? You could go through STR with me, that segment is only 40EUR right now! (Germanwings)

Soren   

Now that's my flight  

Planned:

19.01.13 SX205 HAM-BRN 09:15-10:55 EQV
19.01.13 SX706 BRN-ZAG 12:15-13:50 EQV
20.01.13 4U2977 ZAG-STR 12:10-13:25 319
20.01.13 4U2032 STR-BRE 15:30-16:35 319

'nough Germanwings A319's for this thread... :P

Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 20): Yes, one flight in each direction Monday through Friday. Last week one flight on that route had to shut down an engine and return to Yellowknife.

Excellent,thanks for that,someday i would love to fly on that,fingers crossed for a lotto win!!!!!

I started a new thread about the Do328 trip in the other forum so we can keep this thread focused on the old aircraft.

Jan 19: Hamburg / Zagreb A.net Meet & Do328 Flight (by Birdwatching Nov 26 2012 in Non Aviation)

Soren   

Quoting Tupolevtu154 (Reply 22): Yes! What date is this? It'll have to be on a day off and I won't know about that until the 17th of December, which is slightly awkward. But that is a good price, the D328 is on my hitlist and ZAG has an excellent viewing deck I loved spending some time on last year!

Tom, you know that CityJet fly EDI-LCY (operated by ScotAirways/Suckling Airways on the D328). The cheapest one-way fare is just £37.20 (plenty of availability into next January) and you could get up to EDI cheaply on easyJet. I believe the D328s also fly LCY-ABZ and LCY-DND

Speaking of Buffalo Airways, Is it possible to catch a ride on the C-46, DC-4 or L-188 aircraft? Are any in pax configuration or are they pure freighters?

[Edited 2012-11-27 00:09:25]

Quoting viajero (Reply 32): Is it possible to catch a ride on the C-46, DC-4 or L-188 aircraft? Are any in pax configuration or are they pure freighters?

They are all freighters. I probably shouldn't say this but a few years ago people could hitch a ride on them, but they seem to be more hesitant since so many people know about them due to the show, also the Canadian CAA won't like it.
It was also not then that easy, you couldn't just show up and expect to hop on the next flight, you had to get along and earn trust by the crew and the bosses.

Quoting viajero (Reply 32): Speaking of Buffalo Airways, Is it possible to catch a ride on the C-46, DC-4 or L-188 aircraft? Are any in pax configuration or are they pure freighters?

Sadly for me Buffalo Airways is a fair distance away!!!,does anyone know if Lufthansa still offer flights on the JU-52 " Aunt Ju", or is the aircraft only for air shows etc??.

Quoting Nibog (Reply 34): does anyone know if Lufthansa still offer flights on the JU-52 " Aunt Ju", or is the aircraft only for air shows etc??.

They do both. They do local flights at air shows and other special events, but they also let you book tickets on the ferry flights between those events, some of them are really long. These are cheaper (per hour) than the local flights, and some of them even cover routes on Lufthansa's regular network. For example there were some MUC-SZG flights last year IIRC, a regular LH route, so it would have been fun to book a long haul ticket ex MUC and connect from SZG on the JU52. The catch is that the baggage rules are much stricter on the JU, you can't have checked luggage and only a small piece of hand luggage.

You can look at the schedules or book flights here:
http://www.lufthansa-ju52.de/
They don't have the 2013 flights online yet, so the site only lists some local flights out of HAM. But they will update the schedules eventually.

I did this last summer (a ferry flight from Speyer to Egelsbach) and there are no words to describe how great the experience was.

Soren   

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 35): I did this last summer (a ferry flight from Speyer to Egelsbach) and there are no words to describe how great the experience was.

Excellent idea,that is something worth looking out for,along with the BA 380 and 787 that would leave next year as something from the new and the old!!!!!.Many thanks again Soren.

Quoting MEA-707 (Reply 17): Kelowna and Nolinor in Canada

AFAIK all the Kelowna ones are now freighters. The last pax one is the Air Chathams machine I believe. Nolinor do have two, but they are used for charters exclusively.

An update on the 8P Goose fleet, it seems the fleet is grounded due to uncertified spare parts and it doesnt seem there is any resolution any time soon - replacement Otter's with PT6's are already arriving to replace them. The venerable Beaver may go down the same road in the next few years, while an abundance are in service today, they could run into the same issue if Transport Canada continue their trend of being @#$%ers, so catch them while you can.

The Van City Beech 18 is also stored. VIA still have a couple I believe, though what they do I am not so sure. Their days have to be numbered too, along with the few Norseman's still flying. Very few radial Otter's still around either, vast majority now turbine converted.

Air Tindi are operating a few Dash 7's up in the Arctic.

Quoting Nibog (Reply 34): does anyone know if Lufthansa still offer flights on the JU-52 " Aunt Ju", or is the aircraft only for air shows etc??.

The only downside the the LH preserved example, is that she's powered by the Pratt&Whitney R-1340 Wasp engines, which of course aren't original ones. Ju-Air from Switzerland had 3 JU-52's and 1 Casa 352 (licensed built) which I believe all use the original BMW 123 engines.

Martijn

Going with my earlier posts, Ultimate Air Shuttle also operates the Do-328JET on a Columbus Indiana-YIP flight. Apparently pretty cheap too.

If the Do328 is a rare aircraft, Central Mountain Air operate them ex YVR to Dawson Creek on behalf of Jazz on some days, as well as flights ex YYC & YEG. Plenty of Jetstream 31 flights out of AB too.

Just a quick update on the SAHA 707 - I flew it last night, THR-KIH-THR. The THR-MHD-THR rotation was cancelled all the time I was in Iran due to a lack of bookings (and, in the beginning, due to all 707s going tech). Was a great experience at 90€ return - only downside being that it was an evening flight in the darkness. But who am I to complain... Flight was operated by EP-SHU.

Interesting to know EP-SHU is active. I have flown EP-SHG/HK/HV in the past but never 'HU. Yet another reason to go back, I think.