Airplanes That Have Disappeared: A Tribute to Retired Legends of the Sky

Over the years that I’ve been photographing aviation, I’ve collected quite a few pictures of aircraft that no longer exist because they’ve been retired. In this post, I’d like to share some of those images — a small look back at planes that have disappeared from the skies.

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HS-TGA

HS-TGA | Boeing 747-400 | 26th October 2019 | Zurich, Switzerland
After many years of operating the Boeing 777 to Zurich, Thai Airways began occasionally deploying the Boeing 747 on the route in 2018 and 2019. During October 2019, the 747 even appeared regularly — not knowing that just a few months later, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these iconic aircraft would disappear from commercial service. This photo captures the last time I was able to see Thai Airways' beautiful 747 taking off from Zurich.

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N294UP

N294UP | McDonnell Douglas MD-11(F) | 7th August 2022 | Cologne, Germany
Back in 2022, UPS’s MD-11s were still flying to Cologne — a rare sight we knew wouldn’t last much longer. So a friend and I headed there with one mission: to catch the MD-11 while we still could. This photo shows N294UP lining up for its sunrise departure to Louisville at 7:20 AM. As the departure kept getting delayed, it became very tight with our train connection back to Switzerland, but it was worth the wait. Only later did we realize that this flight had been the aircraft’s final departure from Cologne. Since early 2025, N294UP has been stored in Roswell¹, and UPS has now completely withdrawn the MD-11 from Europe — a last glimpse of a legend.
¹ Source: Planespotters.net – N294UP

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VH-YQW

VH-YQW | Boeing 717-200 | 28th September 2024 | Sydney, Australia
There was a problem: Qantas had announced that they would retire their 717 fleet by mid-2024, but I was heading to Sydney at the end of September. That made it uncertain whether I’d still be able to catch one of Qantas’ remaining 717s or not. In the end, luck was on my side. While spotting at Sydney that morning, I discovered that YQW was scheduled to fly to Launceston — and it even used the runway right in front of me. This was exactly four weeks before its official retirement. Somehow, though, YQW wasn’t phased out as planned; it kept flying until December, when it was finally retired. Interestingly, this particular aircraft was the very last Boeing 717 ever produced. After its final flight, it found a new home at Brisbane Airport (BNE), where it was preserved¹ on December 30, 2024, to serve as an engineering training aid.
¹ Source: Planespotters.net – VH-YQW

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HZ-HM1C

HZ-HM1C | Boeing 747SP | 20th August 2017 | Zurich, Switzerland
This is one of my most valuable photos to date. It was a beautiful evening, and luckily I had my camera with me — without any idea that I was about to capture one of the rarest birds out there. Suddenly, I heard a deep roar, grabbed my camera, and started shooting. At first, I only knew it was some kind of government Jumbo Jet. Two years later, I found out that it was actually an incredibly rare 747SP. As it turned out, this was the very last visit of this beauty to Zurich before it was withdrawn from service and stored permanently¹​ later that same year, in 2017. What a pity it doesn’t fly any more.
¹ Source: Planespotters.net – HZ-HM1C

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UR-82060​

UR-82060​ | Antonov AN-225 Mriya​ | 19th April 2020 | Zurich, Switzerland
Almost two years later, one of the world’s most famous aircraft was destroyed during the war in Ukraine. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the AN-225 flew right over Zurich Airport, which made this photo possible — a truly unique and never to be seen again moment: the six contrails created by the six engines!

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4L-GEN

4L-GEN​ | Boeing 747-236B(SF) ​ | 6th August 2022 | Maastricht, Netherlands
Neither does any 747-200 fly into Maastricht anymore, nor does this one fly at all! At the end of 2022, Maastricht Airport (MST) banned both the 747-200 and the MD-11 due to noise restrictions. 4L-GEN, originally delivered to British Airways¹, is seen here arriving at Maastricht directly from Tbilisi. Everything worked out perfectly for this shot — the journey from Cologne to Maastricht by public transport was quite an adventure, and I caught the 747 just minutes after arriving at the airport. It was a nerve-racking trip, but absolutely worth it! Unfortunately, 4L-GEN has been withdrawn from use and stored since May 2025¹.
¹ Source: Planespotters.net – 4L-GEN

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LZ-DEO

LZ-DEO​ | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 ​| 8th August 2021 | Basel Mulhouse EuroAirport
This old MD-82 arrived in Basel on a windy evening — luckily using Runway 15 from the north, as they had been operating from the south approach before! This aircraft was originally delivered to Alitalia¹ and was retired at the beginning of January 2023¹.
¹ Source: Planespotters.net – LZ-DEO

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HB-JMG

HB-JMG​ | Airbus A340-300 ​| 28th May 2021 | Zurich, Switzerland
This beautiful A340 called Zurich its home for over 20 years! It departed in front of a stunning panorama, bound for the Maldives. In October 2025, it was retired and flew to its final destination — Teruel — which marked the first retirement of the remaining A340s Switzerland still has in service.

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TF-FIU

TF-FIU​ | Boeing 757-200 ​| 5th October 2025 | Zurich, Switzerland
Over the years, Hekla Aurora — the flying pencil with its Northern Lights — visited Zurich many times. However, this photo shows its very last arrival in Zurich, just a bit over a week before it was retired. What an amazing paint scheme that was!

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HB-JVF

HB-JVF | Fokker 100 ​| 18th May 2019 | Zurich, Switzerland
In 2019, Helvetic Airways retired all of its Fokker aircraft and became an all-Embraer fleet.

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D-ABOM

D-ABOM | Boeing 757-300 ​| 12th October 2025 | Palma de Mallorca, Spain
D-ABOM, taken in Palma de Mallorca on 12th October 2025, was the very last Boeing 757-300 in Condor’s fleet. Only two and a half weeks later, the aircraft was withdrawn from use, ending more than two decades of 757 operations for the airline.