C-FQWK
This Boeing 737-800, registered as C-FQWK, belonged at the time to Sunwing Airlines. The images here were taken on March 9, 2015. She was on lease from Thomson Airways and her last flight with Sunwing took place on April 18, 2015 from Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) to Cancun International (CUN) in Mexico.
On April 21, 2015, this Boeing 737-800 was returned to Thomson Airways. She’d been leased by Sunwing since December 10, 2014. With Thomson, the registration number is G-TAWK. This is a relatively new airliner with her first flight taken on November 3, 2012.
The body paint design is similar between the two airlines with just the tail and lettering being different.
Boeing 737-800
The first Boeing 737 was introduced way back in 1968. The first 737-800 rolled out in 1998. This Sunwing version was configured to seat 189, all in economy class.
The 800 series are 130 feet in length with a wingspan of 117 feet and stand 41 feet high at the tail. Maximum speed is 545 mph or 877 kmh. The range is around 5,700 km.
Like all 737-800’s, you can see that this one has been retrofitted with Split Scimitar Winglets. These are pieces at the ends of each wing that point down from the regular curved up winglet. The addition of these Split Scimitar Winglets cuts fuel costs by 2%. That might not sound like much but with the massive volume of fuel airlines go through, it results in substantial savings. For example, in this article by Gizmodo, it states that United Airlines alone with save up to $200 million just by upgrading their 737’s.
Sunwing Airlines
The airline was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Sunwing Airlines currently has 39 Boeing 737-800 airliners in its fleet, all configured for 189 passengers. The airline runs chartered flights from Canada, mainly to sunshine destinations in the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and Florida. Sunwing has started to fly to destinations in Europe during the summer months.
Thomson Airways
Thomson commenced operations in November, 2008 and is headquartered in the United Kingdom. The airline is rooted in Britannia Airways, an airline that was founded in 1961. Their fleet consists of 58 airliners, all made by Boeing. Along with 737’s, Thomson Airways also flies 757’s, 767’s and 787’s.
Like Sunwing, Thomson is a charter airline taking guests to vacation destinations with packaged deals.
It’s About Airplanes
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