Hi, dear flight-report members and readers! In this short FR I'd like to present a retro-review of the (now-long-gone) vintage B737-400 on a mid-haul intra-EU LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warszawa Chopin (WAW) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), taken on late April 2018.
Intro
LOT Polish Airlines is quite an interesting airline due to its fleet's variety. Whereas widebody part of LO fleet is boring: 7 B789s plus 8 B788s (with 2 more B788s to come from Thai Airways in late 2026), its narrowbody fleet is various: 18 B78Ms, 6 B738s, 3 E295s, 16 E195s, 8 E190s, 15 E175s and 5 E170s. In late 2010s LO operated a small fleet of 3 B734s, which in 2019-2020 were sold for conversion to freighters. I was lucky to fly on one of them in late April 2018 before they was gone. It was a part of the SVO-WAW-CDG-WAW-SVO routing (I then lived in Russia), with the 1st leg being operated by a E175 (the FR to come) and the return legs being operated by a E195 (the same on both legs).
Boeing 737-400 Passenger Operators
B737-400 is the largest member of 737 classic family, and now is quite a dying breed in passenger service. Quite a number of B734s were converted to freighters. It would be interesting to list the current passenger B734 operators.
1) Aeroregional: 2 units.
2) Air Horizont: 3 units (Y168) plus 2 units (C72 or Y168).
3) Air Mediterranean: 2 units (Y162 plus Y168).
4) Air North: 1 unit (Y156).
5) AlMasria Universal Airlines: 2 units (Y158 plus Y165).
6) Avior Airlines: 6 units (C12Y132) plus 1 unit (C12Y138).
7) Canadian North: 2 units (Y78/Cargo) plus 1 unit (Y156). :
8) Daallo Airlines: 1 unit (Y148).
9) FlySafair: 4 units (Y165).
10) Iran Aseman Airlines: 3 units.
11) Nolinor Aviation: 2 units (Y158).
12) Taban Air: 1 unit.
13) Tailwind Airlines: 3 units (Y168).
14) Turpial Airlines: 3 units (C12Y132 plus Y156 plus Y158).
15) UTAir: 6 units (Y159).
Warszawa Chopin International Airport (WAW)
Warszawa has 2 international airports: large Chopin (WAW), serving the most airlines and the hub of LOT, and small Modlin, serving only Ryanair flights. WAW is conveniently connected by rail service with Warszawa city centre, and its terminal is quite modern and spacious.
The Aircraft
The aircraft, serving my flight, was 1997-built SP-LLF. LOT phased it out in late November 2019 and then it was converted to freighter, the same fate was in 2020 for its 2 remaining siblings in LO fleet. The boarding for my flight was via bus gate.
The Cabin
Some views of the all-economy cabin during boarding. The first two rows (red antimacassars) were kind of "priority" ones, with the first one, as usual, being "extra legroom".
The Economy Seat
The economy seat was slimline (I cannot identify the model), with antimacassar, tray table, seat pocket and underseat universal power socket. Some seats had power boxes (not bothersome on short flights). The row pitch was OK.
Inside the seat pocket were safety card, quite a number of magazines and buy-on-board menu.
The overhead panel was truly vintage classic-style.
A cabin view from the seat.
The Flight
Cabin view during pushback.
The beautiful 737CL wing with its complex flaps in takeoff configuration.
Takeoff from WAW.
Flaps off.
At the cruising altitude.
A waffle bar and coffee are served, which was then standard service onboard LO and nice to get on an intra-EU flight.
A couple of wing views over Germany.
Cabin view inflight.
The overhead bins of the last rows.
The vintage lavatory.
Wing view over beautiful summer clouds.
Descending to CDG over beautiful rapeseed fields.
My seat after the flight.
Cabin views upon disembarkment.
A bit of fuselage from the jetbridge.
The aircraft's nose from the arrival terminal. LO operates from T1 CDG, with its famous brutalism-style "rotunda" and famous "tubes", connecting the terminal with the CDGval train station.
Thank you for your attertion and see you in the next FRs!
