Summary

  • Trans World Airlines (TWA) operated three Boeing 747SP aircraft.
  • One of the 747SPs, registered as N58201, flew with TWA for almost five years before being used by Dubai Air Wing and later acquired by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
  • The other two, registered as N57202 and N57203, were both transferred to American Airlines before being operated by various different carriers.

Trans World Airlines (TWA) had a rich history lasting more than seven decades. The carrier's story began in 1930 as Transcontinental & Western Air and ended in 2001 when it was acquired by American Airlines. Throughout that time, TWA operated a wide variety of aircraft, including 35 Boeing 747s.

Three of these 747s were the instantly recognizable 747SP, which is 14 meters shorter than the 747-100, already operated by TWA at the time. Pan Am was the 747SP's launch customer in 1976 after specifically asking Boeing to produce the longer-range aircraft. TWA took delivery of its first in 1980, but by 1986, all three 747SPs had already left the airline's fleet.

N58201

According to data from ch-aviation.com, TWA's first 747SP was registered as N58201 and joined the airline's fleet in March 1980. All in all, N58201 spent almost half a decade flying with TWA before leaving the carrier in February 1985.

The aircraft was, however, soon back in action, registered as A6-SMR and operating VIP flights with Dubai Air Wing, where it remained until June 2007. Later that year, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation acquired the luxurious 50-seat aircraft. Today, the aircraft, now registered as VP-BLK, is one of only three active 747SPs in the world.

N57202

The next 747SP to join TWA's fleet was registered as N57202, which arrived in April 1980. For the first year of its life at the airline, the aircraft bore the name Boston Express. After leaving TWA in 1986, the aircraft went on to operate for American Airlines - quite the coincidence given the carrier's acquisition some 15 years later.

The aircraft's next operator was Kazakhstan Airlines, which flew it until April 1996 under the registration UN-001. After a year at Air Finance Limited, its final passenger-carrying spell took it to Air Atlanta Icelandic as TF-ABN from August 1997 to May 1999. Three years later, the aircraft was preserved in Luxembourg for use as an evacuation training aid.

N57203

The final 747SP to join TWA did so in May 1980. This aircraft bore the registration N57203 and experienced a similar fate to N57202, being transferred to American Airlines in October 1986.

However, it followed a similar path to N58201, joining Dubai Air Wing as a VIP aircraft in December 1994. After a decade of service in the Middle East, Ernest Angley Ministries acquired the aircraft in November 2004 before being eventually withdrawn from service in March 2018 and placed into storage in Arizona two months later.

After the final 747SP left its fleet in 1986, TWA operated for 15 years. However, financial difficulties led to the carrier ultimately being acquired by American Airlines in December 2001. The 747SP itself failed to achieve the commercial success of Boeing's other 747 variants, with only 45 units being sold. Other operators of the type included Qantas, Iran Air, Air Mauritius, and United Airlines.

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Did you fly on one of Trans World Airlines' Boeing 747SPs? What memories do you have of the aircraft? Share your experiences by commenting below.

Sources: ATDB.aero, ch-aviation.com, Planespotters.net