Airbus A310 - Swissair
Swissair (Schweizerische Luftverkehr AG) was the national airline of Switzerland. It was founded in 1931 by a merger between two older airlines, Balair and Ad Astra Aero. Swissair was famous for its financial stability for a long time, but in 2002 the airline collapsed after an expensive expansion by (partially) taking over other airlines, including Sabena (Belgium), LTU (Germany), Air Liberté and AOM (France). The effects of the September 11 attacks in 2001 made the investments a too heavy burden for the airline. It was grounded in October 2001. (Today's Swiss International Airlines was formed in 2002 out of the regional subsidiary Crossair.)
The old Swissair was an important widebody aircraft user. The first widebody in the fleet was the Boeing 747-200B Jumbo Jet, in 1971, and one year later it introduced the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30. Later, Swissair was launch customer for the Airbus A310-200, the Boeing 747-300 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. Swissair and Lufthansa became the first users of the Airbus A310-200. Swissair received its first aircraft in 1983. The airline operated a total of eleven A310s: five A310-200s and six -300s.
The aircraft on the picture above is approaching London Heathrow. The small picture with an A310 in a later Swissair livery is taken at Zürich.
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