Air Portugal | 737-300 | 1983-1995 Livery

In 1985 aiportugal showed its commitment to work alongside Boeing when the company placed an order for 15 737-300 aircraft, a move that shook the Airbus company as their iconic A320 was set to be launched in 2 years. Then 'Air Portugal' has stated "despite Airbus offering a great upcoming product we believe that the Airbus A320-100 does not fit our needs at this current time as well as the near future however we do not rule out future cooperation with Airbus" .

The 737-300 has been a great aircraft since its introduction with Air Portugal in 1986. The aircraft has served the Portuguese flag carrier for the next decade however in the late 90's a series of faults has caused 2 fatal crashes involving the 737-300, and so in 1994 the airline has grounded all of its remaining 737-300, there was no final flight that was celebrated and the -300's were never used by the airline again.

The 737-300 has a sad ending with 'Air Portugal' however it was a great aircraft the plane-spotters around Europe will never forget.