The old thread has well over 100 replies so I thought we could use a new, updated one. Here are the links to the previous threads of this year:
Flying Rare/Classic Aircraft In 2013/14 (by HAM Sep 30 2013 in Aviation Polls)
Flying Rare/Classic Aircraft In 2014 (continued) (by aloges Feb 1 2014 in Aviation Polls)

So it looks like there are a bunch of "very last chance" situations right now. If you're a serious aviation enthusiast with the intention to log as many as possible classic and rare aircraft, you have to act now as we're about to lose several of the great classics.

Boeing 747 SP
Iran Air now has only ONE frame active. At the same time, newer second hand long haul aircraft are appearing in Iran so it's only a matter of months maybe. The new schedule came out recently and it looks like the only destination served by the SP is IKA-KUL-IKA with the Kuala Lumpur - Tehran segment being an attractive daylight flight. One way fares are around $500 in economy and $600 in Business class. No online travel agencies offer Iran Air bookings any more, the easiest way right now seems to be a call to the Frankfurt city office where one can easily pay by credit card and get an e-ticket emailed.

Various Soviet types in North Korea
Juche Travel is doing their last round of aviation enthusiast tours of North Korea. According to the agency, Koryo can not guarantee the classic aircraft in 2015, at the same time newer Russian built aircraft are arriving in the country. They also say that after 3 years of running the tours, most people who were interested have done it by now, so the market is gone. So the two remaining tours of 2014, with some last available vacancies, are the last chances to fly on some of these types, ever.
The tours include flights on the IL-18, TU-134, IL-76, IL-62, AN-24, TU-154 and TU-204-200 as well as -300.

IL-96
As Aeroflot is getting rid of their last frames as we speak, the safest bet to fly on an IL-96 is Madrid or Paris to Havana on Cubana. Good fares available, and can be combined with:

AN-24
After some frames are parked for mechanical reasons, two were lost when commandeered to Key West, and a slow but steady streams of ATRs trickling into Cuba, the last chance to fly Cubana's AN-24 is on their daily HAV-GER flight, a 40 minute hop with an attractive $41 one way fare.

MD-11
KLM has almost finished retiring their MD-11. This is the last chance to fly one as a passenger. AMS-YUL seems to be the best bet right now. KLM may or may not do an enthusiast's event when the last MD-11 is retired.

ATP
Only a few left in passenger service, but fortunately the clock is not ticking yet. NextJet of Sweden operates them to their northern destinations and in January 2014 I was told there are no plans to retire them anytime soon. The best bets are the ARN - Arvidsjaur or Vilhelmina / Hemavan rotations.

Please add to the list!
Soren   

Quoting Birdwatching (Thread starter): MD-11 KLM has almost finished retiring their MD-11. This is the last chance to fly one as a passenger. AMS-YUL seems to be the best bet right now. KLM may or may not do an enthusiast's event when the last MD-11 is retired.

I just today bought my tickets from MSP to BER and purposely paid an extra $400 just to fly via YUL and AMS so that I would have the chance to fly (hopefully) the MD-11, twice! Super excited.

Metroliner

After Brindabella Airlines in Australia went into receivership last December, the number of Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners in passenger service has further dwindled. By my count we are down to 6 operators in scheduled passenger service. I actually thoughy it was five, but I've just discovered Denver Air Connection (which I've never heard of before) who are apparently a Public Charter flying between Grand Junction, CO, and Centennial Airport in Denver (which I've also never heard of).

Australia: Sharp Airlines www.sharpairlines.com.au
Bolivia: Aerocon www.aerocon.bo
Canada: Bearskin Airlines www.bearskinairlines.com
Canada: Perimiter Aviation www.perimeter.ca
Norway: Air Norway www.airnorway.no
USA: Denver Air Connection www.dianoway.com

I can recommend Air Norway. The crew onboard are really friendly, and I spent most of the time in the air chatting to them

Just spotted that Conviasa seems to have returned one of the super rare ATR-42-400 (YV1009) to service. It shows up in their schedules and is listed as active on several fleet lists.

On a different note, can the CRJ-440 still be counted as an 440? Or are all converted back to CRJ-200 standard? Endeavor Air is currently operating these airframes.

Thanks,
Loran

[Edited 2014-06-03 04:37:12]

You really are scraping the barrel nowadays, Axel!

A few random ones I would like to mention are as follows:

DC-9
The most sought after variant of those still flying these days must be the DC-9-10. FlySAX (B5) of Kenya are still operating 1966-built 5Y-XXA on a mix of its own flights to Mogadishu, Juba, etc. as well as some domestic flying for Fly540 (5H). The B5 flights are occasionally swapped for a CRJ, and the Fly540 booking engine does not show the types any more, therefore to avoid a CRJ/ATR-72/DHC-8-100 the best bet is usually to arrive in Kenya and ask at the Fly540 ticket desk which flights the DC-9 will be operating in the next 24-48 hours.

Another Kenyan passenger operator of the DC-9 is African Express (XU) with a 1968-built DC-9-30, although this one is actually harder to get on. A small group of us are planning to fly XU on their DXB-BBO-MGQ route (MD-83), then transfer to the DC-9 for MGQ-WJR-NBO. As per the current timetable on their website, these are the types we should hopefully get. A few years ago I would not have considered changing in Mogadishu, but nowadays it seems to be comparitively more peaceful.

B737-200
Air Zimbabwe are apparently still operating one of their 732s.

Another interesting one is Eritrean Airlines, who appear to have a B732 on lease from Al Naser AIrlines of Iraq, in place of their usual A320.

Aside from that, there are of course First Air, Air Inuit and Canadian North, but the fares on the first two in particular can be extortionate and make them off-limits for many.

An-24
Aside from Air Koyro, the An-24 can also be flown easily in Kazakhstan with SCAT. I recently took two flights in one day, one of which had a flight time of 3 hours 45 minutes. Very affordable too.

SCAT also have active YAK-42s, but unfortunately they are not listed in the timetable and apparently operate as backup aircraft and on charters.

Quoting UK_Dispatcher (Reply 5): Air Zimbabwe are apparently still operating one of their 732s.

VFA-HRE, BUQ-JNB, VFA-JNB seem to all have 732 action

The Fly 540/ FlySax DC-9 seems to be back on the route to Mogadishu tomorrow after a problem with one of it's engines last week (my 540 flight from NBO via Mombasa to Zanzibar last Wednesday should have been flown by the -9 I learned after arriving at ZNZ).
AND it's seems like the F-28 is back in the air and is doing the afternoon NBO-MBA-NBO rotation on Friday.
It's also possible to fly on a Dash-7 and a Let-410 while in Kenya/Tanzania.

At least 2 years ago, they were MANY dc9 flying on the domestic market from Venezuela, and even a few international routes. Someone I know was in a DC9 on the SDQ-AUA-CCS route (although he flew up to AUA only). There are even some B727 flying in Angola. Not sure of if they are safe, but is always better than MGQ!

Cheers,
Eielef @TUC

PS: It's very sad seeing AEP now with only ERJ190, B73NG and A320s. Just 5 years ago we had B732, B735, MD81/2/3/8, and some A320. Those were nice and noisy days!

Same in SVO. I used to spot in an hour at least 5 takeoffs from soviet/russian built planes. Now, you won't see more than 20 a day, all on the beautiful Sukkhoi.

Wow what a combination for Kenya! Would anyone be up for going there as a group to try and log these types?

New possibility to fly a DC-9-30 in Kenya!

Nairobi - Kisumu/Mombasa twice daily, prices starting from 64USD oneway (if booked online).

SkyAero operated by Pan African Airways

www.fly-paa.com

Right. I am off to kenya. I need those in my logbook.

Interesting!
How the places shift where aviation enthusiasts make their pilgrimages to.
What used to be Ecuador in the early 2000s, and Bangladesh in the early 2010s, is now Kenya.
One day you travel there for your blast from the past, the next day it's all A320s.

Soren   

Very few Hawker-Siddeley 748s left in passenger service. Air North, based in Whitehorse-YXY in Canada's Yukon Territory, is still carrying passengers on the HS748.

Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 13): Very few Hawker-Siddeley 748s left in passenger service. Air North, based in Whitehorse-YXY in Canada's Yukon Territory, is still carrying passengers on the HS748.

Not for much longer, heard the ATR is on the horizon.

The first one is down in YVR for the summer doing the fishing charters and spends a lot of time on the ground. I would be happy to arrange an enthusiasts charter if there were enough people to make it work? Someone tried a couple of years ago by organizing a flight to YXX for the airshow, but it didnt happen as there were not enough takers. But now it is truly on the endangered list maybe things have changed?

Quoting YVRLTN (Reply 14): Someone tried a couple of years ago by organizing a flight to YXX for the airshow, but it didnt happen as there were not enough takers

The price has to be right. Same as the charter for the DC8 was a few years ago. It was a lot of money for a single flight.

I'm heading to Georgia in September for a few days. Does anybody know of any interesting types still earning a living around there? I think I already know the answer but worth a try nonetheless!

Thanks!

Georgian Airways might have one or two new SSJ Superjets by september.
Other remotely interesting passenger airlines there are Air Caucasus with two MD83s and Vista Georgia with three 737-300/500s.

Soon flying on a Fokker 50, getting pretty rare that one as well.
I'm flying Direktflyg HS operated by Amapola: GOT-SDL-GOT

Quoting TupolevTu154 (Reply 16): I'm heading to Georgia in September for a few days. Does anybody know of any interesting types still earning a living around there? I think I already know the answer but worth a try nonetheless! Thanks!

The Republic of Georgia in the Caucus region or the State of Georgia in the USA?

Quoting A333MSPtoAMS (Reply 19): The Republic of Georgia in the Caucus region or the State of Georgia in the USA?

I presume he means Georgia in the USA. Some interesting types you can catch there include all of Delta's fleet, including the A320 series, MD88, B757-200 and B737-800. If you need any help booking those, just ask me because I know a good booking website (www.delta.com)

Quoting Loran (Reply 4): On a different note, can the CRJ-440 still be counted as an 440? Or are all converted back to CRJ-200 standard? Endeavor Air is currently operating these airframes.

All of the CRJ-440s have been converted to the standard 50 seat CRJ-200 configuration

Here is a questioned that I have often asked myself. Is it worth supporting a regime that massacres and starves its own people, just like Nazi Germany, to get on a Russian airliner? Will your $2,000 go towards aid for the people or concentration camps and nuclear weapons? Are the possible deaths you fund worth it to fly on a Russian airliner for 2 hours and to be able to brag that you flew on an Il-18? Do you really want to be careful watched by the CIA, NSA, or FBI for going to North Korea or Iran?

Penguins, yes, I agree completely..

Oh, by the way, in America, how's the nuclear arsenal, spying on other countries, operating rendition flights, Guantanamo bay, the NRA/gun culture, and the 'shoot first, ask questions later' approach in international politics going these days?  

Joking aside, I take a light hearted view on this. Let's face it, we live in a Big Brother world, where everyone spies on everyone else. Some countries are different to others- that's life. I do hope things get better for all the people who live in the DPRK for example, but I have no regrets in deciding to go there.

Also, despite what is listed above, yes I do have American friends!  

Quoting opticalilyushin (Reply 23): Oh, by the way, in America, how's the nuclear arsenal, spying on other countries, operating rendition flights, Guantanamo bay, the NRA/gun culture, and the 'shoot first, ask questions later' approach in international politics going these days?

We do all of that in the interest of world pease. And if you don't like it we can roll in with a B-52 strike to change your mind.  

No More Iranian SP's....?

As per

http://www.skyliner-aviation.de/regdb.main?LC=nav4&page=4

As far as I was aware, IR only had 1 active 74L, EP-IAA.

bur according to Skyliner, the last rotation was to BOM last week.

Can anyone confirm...?

Quoting Hywel (Reply 20): I presume he means Georgia in the USA. Some interesting types you can catch there include all of Delta's fleet, including the A320 series, MD88, B757-200 and B737-800. If you need any help booking those, just ask me because I know a good booking website (www.delta.com)

How on Earth can the A320 and the 737NG be interesting in a thread covering classic and rare aircraft? The A320 is a interesting as a piece of cardboard soaked in water :P

What about the status of the A340-200 and -500? Perhaps not classic, but defiantly rare!  

Quoting Fallap (Reply 26):

I somehow think he was being sarcastic...  

Quoting Fallap (Reply 26): defiantly

I didn't know planes could be defiant!

Quoting SRQKEF (Reply 27): I somehow think he was being sarcastic...

Well you never know! Plus he did mention the MD88 so my confusion was justified! :P

Quoting dc9northwest (Reply 28): Quoting Fallap (Reply 26): defiantly I didn't know planes could be defiant!

My fail engrish, dats unpossible

Quoting Fallap (Reply 29): Well you never know! Plus he did mention the MD88 so my confusion was justified!

That's true! :P

Although DL has the 88s in truckloads (117 active last time I checked)

regards!
Sveinn  

Quoting SRQKEF (Reply 27): I somehow think he was being sarcastic...

Correct!

Quoting Fallap (Reply 26): What about the status of the A340-200 and -500?

SA have and AR too (retiring and scrapping shortly), but in single digits now for the 342. It's the next after the MD11 for the "gone before their time" award.

Quoting Fallap (Reply 29): My fail engrish, dats unpossible

LOL!  

Quoting TUGMASTER (Reply 25): No More Iranian SP's....? As per http://www.skyliner-aviation.de/regdb.main?LC=nav4&page=4 As far as I was aware, IR only had 1 active 74L, EP-IAA. bur according to Skyliner, the last rotation was to BOM last week. Can anyone confirm...?

EP-IAA has been retired. Its spare parts (especially engines) will be used to get EP-IAC back in the air. Now IR maintenance will install the engines (some/all) on EP-IAC. In the meantime, EP-IAG (742) and A300s are doing the long-haul flights (BOM/PEK/KUL).

I hope EP-IAC will be fixed soon as I'm booked on KUL-IKA in a couple of weeks. A 742 is also nice, but not as spectacular as a 747SP...

So, any updates about the 747SP? I'm booked KUL-IKA in mid September. How are my odds?

Soren   

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 35): So, any updates about the 747SP?

Yes, and it's a good one: EP-IAC has already performed a test flight after receiving EP-IAA's engines! Seems like it will be back in regular service very soon.

Quoting HAM (Reply 36): Yes, and it's a good one: EP-IAC has already performed a test flight after receiving EP-IAA's engines! Seems like it will be back in regular service very soon.

Thanks a lot for the info! That sounds great. I guess my chances for the SP in September are even better now than before. If they have just re-done IAC, I suppose they won't retire her in the next half year, unless a major technical problem comes up.

Soren   

I am sure everyone in here is aware of the AZAL's announcement to send a 722 into scheduled services in Europe. Here is the link anyways:

New Pax 727 Route In Europe: Baku To Geneva (by cedarjet Jun 22 2014 in Civil Aviation)

Regards,
Loran

It doesn't exactly fit this thread, but anyway:

Aurigny have just taken delivery of their E-195. Does anybody know if there's a chance it could end up flying GCI-JER (or vice-versa) every now and then? That would be a pretty interesting route for an E-jet.

From Tehran To Kualalumpur
Flight Origin Destionation Departure Time Arrival Time Aircraft Type Delay(min) Status
IR 0814 Tehran-Imam khomeini Kualalumpur 2014-07-01 21:55 2014-07-02 09:22 74L 0 Departured

Source: Iran Air website, flight status search.

EP-IAC is back in the air! Performed flight IR 814 IKA-KUL tonight.

As for the most classic and rare one out there: I read some time ago that Saha Air have stopped operating the 707 or flying altogether. However, I couldn't find any precise information. Does anyone of you know what the status is and when or if the 707 will be in the air again?

Saha is down and out, no news since this:
Saha Air Suspended Operations (?) (by Ty134A Apr 19 2013 in Civil Aviation)
I was at THR almost exactly two years ago and made an attempt to catch a 707 to MHD, no luck. Technical problems and replaced with huge delay by a Meraj A300.

In other, hopefully better news: Croatia's European Coastal Airlines eyes August 1 launch - I so want a go on a Goose!

Quoting OlafW (Reply 41): Does anyone of you know what the status is and when or if the 707 will be in the air again?

Saha stopped flying in April last year, this time for good, unfortunately.

How can I fly a Dornier 328 DOJet or BAE146 in America? While common in Europe, I can't seem to find an airline that uses BAEs across the pond in America.

-LPDAL

Quoting LPDAL (Reply 44): Dornier 328 DOJet

sorry, no idea

Quoting LPDAL (Reply 44): BAE146

Only in South America AFAIK. Star Perú and Aerovías DAP (in Chile) might be able to give you your fix, but to be honest it'd probably be easier and cheaper to go to ZRH, CDG/LHR or Sweden (see below).

Quoting LPDAL (Reply 44): While common in Europe

Sadly, they're nowhere near common these days... only Swiss, CityJet and Malmö Aviation come to mind.

Quoting LPDAL (Reply 44): How can I fly a Dornier 328 DOJet or BAE146 in America?

The largest operator of the DoJET in the world is actually in the US. Ultimate Air Shuttle operates regular flights between Cincinnati Lunken Field (and CVG on some routes) and MDW, MMU, and CLT. They also operate a large charter fleet.

The scheduled flights aren't cheap ($250 and up one-way), but for a DoJET it's cheaper than flying to Billund.

[Edited 2014-07-07 15:27:51]

No exactly US, but quite close:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calm_Air

I just remembered Air Transat is flying A310s to FLL. While the A310 may be more "uncommon" than "rare" it's still one of the harder types to catch to do. Just checked their website and they have a regular A310 on FLL-YUL-FLL which I'm going to make my best effort to fly on (in their J "Club Class")

BahamasAir operates the 737-500 FLL-NAS-FLL although their staff are very very unfriendly and hate when people take pictures of their planes.

Tortug Air, A Haitian airline flies the BAE Jetsream 31 FLL-CAP-FLL.

Boliviana de Aviación flies 737-300s/500s out of MIA.

Insel Air flies MD's and Fokkers out of MIA.

SkyBahamas operates S340s FLL-NAS-FLL

-LPDAL

I just booked a sector JNB-VFA on UM 737-200. On the same route you can fly a T7- (SAN MARINO) registered 737-500 or a Comair 737-400. There's a bunch of J41s down that way. I booked on an SW E135 too.