Farewell to a Plane With 40 Year History
Aeroflot withdraws from service its fleet of legendary Tu-154s
Aeroflot has withdrawn the Tu-154 airliners from its service. On December 31, 2009 an Aeroflot’s Tu-154 made its last flight SU736 from Yekaterinburg to Moscow.
For almost 40 years, Tu-154s carried Aeroflot passengers to domestic and international destinations.
Aeroflot received the Tu-154 in late 1970. In May 1971 it started to carry mail from Moscow to Tbilisi, Sochi, Simferopol and Mineralnye Vody.
On February 1972, then Minister of Civil Aviation B.P. Bugayev signed a decree on admission of the Tu-154 aircraft to passenger carriage. The Tu-154 performed its first regular flight Moscow – Mineralnye Vody on Aeroflot’s 49th anniversary, February 9, 1972. On April 2, 1972, the aircraft started to be operated on international lines. On that day the Aeroflot’s new aircraft performed a Moscow – Berlin flight.
In the 1980s, different versions of the Tu-154 aircraft became Aeroflot’s most numerous airplanes. They performed flights between almost all major cities of the Soviet Union. During summer periods, the aircraft were the main carriers of tourists and holiday-makers to the country’s southern towns. Tu-154s flew to over 80 destinations in Europe, Asia and Africa, and were multiple times demonstrated at various international exhibitions and air shows.
The Tu-154 is a passenger airliner with a flying range of 5,000 km and passenger capacity of 131. Its wingspan is 37.77 meters, length 47.90 meters, cruising speed 860 km per hour, maximum altitude 1,2100 meters.
