#A24 Boeing B727-223F
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Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. A24 - Boing B727-223F, HZ-SND, DHL Aviation.
The aircraft shown above is a B727-223F, manufacturer serial number 20994. It’s first flight was on May 6th 1976 registered as N853AA in the colours of American Airlines. She remained with AA until converted to cargo configuration in June 1995 and delivered to Brussels, Belgium for European Air Transport (EAT) on the 6th July 1995, registration OO-DHX. OO-DHX operated on the European network until being transferred to Swiftair and the Spanish Register on March 11th 2004 as EC-IVE. Swiftair operated the aircraft on a wet lease into DHL Aviation, Bahrain in support of the United States Postal Service primarily to/from Iraq. In March 2005, the aircraft was transferred onto the Saudi Arabian register as HZ-SND to operate on behalf of DHL in conjunction with SNAS Aviation. Her life with DHL ended gracefully on the 6th April 2014 having flown for a total of 71,246 hrs and 50,082 cycles. DHL Aviation (in cooperation with SNAS Trading and Contracting of Saudi Arabia) began dedicated cargo flight operations between Bahrain and Riyadh in 1979 with a single Fokker F-27 aircraft. In 1980, with demand for a reliable overnight service increasing, the Fairchild Metro liner SA227 aircraft was introduced. With its fast cruising speed of 250 knots, this aircraft proved to be ideal for this type of service and destinations soon expanded to include Dubai, Kuwait, Jeddah and other major cities in the Gulf. As the DHL Aviation fleet of aircraft increased, a modern hangar and maintenance facility was constructed at Bahrain International Airport in 1987 to provide support. Later additions to the hangar infrastructure included specialized training and engine maintenance facilities. A Convair CV580 aircraft was introduced in 1991 as cargo volumes continued to increase and this was followed by a second Convair in 1993. At this time the Convair was the only containerized turboprop cargo aircraft operating in the Gulf and offered efficient turnaround times. The fleet had now grown to 6 aircraft – 2 Convairs plus 4 Metro liners. Dedicated operations linking the Middle East to Europe began in 1995 with the introduction of a Boeing B757PF freighter on daily flights to the heart of Europe. This aircraft facilitated DHL’s next day delivery service from the Middle East to all parts of Europe. Beginning in December 2003 wet lease operations began to support postal, food, humanitarian and general cargo supplies to Afghanistan and Iraq. Up to 8 operators and 14 aircraft were utilized and a small fleet of Airbus A300-600 aircraft remain based in Bahrain to serve this market. A fleet of 4 Boeing 727 Freighter aircraft were introduced to the Middle East operations in 2004 to meet the increasing demand for uplift capacity. By 2007 the B727 fleet had grown to six aircraft. The versatility and reliability of the Boeing 727 - the first trijet introduced into commercial service - made it the best-selling airliner in the world during the first 30 years of jet transport service. With sophisticated, triple-slotted trailing edge flaps and new leading-edge slats, the 727 had unprecedented low-speed landing and takeoff performance for a commercial jet and could be accommodated by smaller airfields. In 2011, DHL Aviation began to replace the B727’s with the introduction of 2 B757 aircraft to support our growing business. These were quickly followed by one more in 2012 and another in 2014. These aircraft are a step change in technology, reliability and fuel efficiency compared to the B727 and demonstrates our commitment to improving our service in the region and extending our network coverage south into Africa and west to Lebanon.