JAN.2021
No more scheduled flights in Europe will be operated in Boeing 717. The spanish low-cost airline Volotea has made its last flights in Boeing 717, its fleet now consisting only of Airbus A319.
The Spanish airline operated on January 10, 2021 the last commercial flight in single aisle 125 seats (registered EC-MGT) between Palermo airport and its base in Venice-Marco Polo.
Volotea’s last ninth B717's will go for long-term storage, to Victorville ( KVCV) in the Mojave Desert of California.
The spanish low-cost was founded in 2011 and launched in February 2012, received its first 717 lease from Boeing: the EC-LPM had already spent the previous six years at Midwest Airlines and then Mexicana Click. Volotea operated up to 19 B717, before announcing its move to the Airbus A319 in November 2015. It explained the choice of the A319 by several factors including "its technical performance and the availability of this model", and operate a 100% Airbus fleet in the future.
So it is now the case, with 20 aircraft in service and three awaiting delivery.
Launched by McDonnell-Douglas in 1997, the MD-95 became 717-200 after Boeing bought the manufacturer the same year and entered service in October 1999 with the airline ValuJet (later AirTran Airways), and production ceased in 2006 after the construction of 156 aircraft (the last being delivered in May also to Air Tran).Versions -100 and -300 were considered and then abandoned, with a VIP (Business Express) version being offered in 2003.
Today, the 717 remains in service at QantasLink, Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines, the last two having already announced its next replacement.