TC-TJS – Corendon Airlines Boeing 737: From China to Europe

For almost eighteen years, this Boeing 737-800 connected two very different worlds of commercial aviation.

It began its career in China.

In January 2006, the aircraft was delivered to China Southern Airlines as B-5133.

For nine years, it flew as part of one of China's largest airline networks.

Then, in 2015, its life changed completely.

The Boeing left China.

It received new winglets.

It received a new registration.

And it entered the colourful world of European holiday aviation.

B-5133 became TC-TJS.

Its new operator was Corendon Airlines.

From Antalya, the aircraft carried holidaymakers to destinations across Europe and beyond. During its Corendon years it could be seen at airports from Amsterdam and Düsseldorf to Helsinki, Vienna and Linz.

It even spent time operating for SpiceJet in India.

Then, in 2023, TC-TJS was withdrawn from service.

The following year, the aircraft was dismantled.

Part of its genuine fuselage skin was preserved by Aircrafttag.

Born as B-5133

The aircraft was built as a Boeing 737-81B with manufacturer serial number MSN 34252 and Boeing line number 1851.

It performed its first flight on 9 January 2006.

On 26 January, the aircraft was delivered to China Southern Airlines.

Its first registration was B-5133.

The aircraft was powered by two CFM International CFM56-7B26 engines.

Unlike the aircraft most people would later recognize as TC-TJS, the Boeing originally left the factory without winglets.

Its appearance was therefore noticeably different during its early years.

Nine Years in China

For approximately nine years, B-5133 remained with China Southern Airlines.

This was the longest single continuous airline chapter of the aircraft's life.

The Boeing 737-800 was becoming one of the defining narrow-body aircraft of its generation.

Its combination of capacity, range and operating economics made it useful across an enormous variety of routes.

For China Southern, that versatility was particularly valuable.

China's aviation market was expanding rapidly during the years B-5133 was in service.

The aircraft became part of that growth.

Day after day, it performed the job for which the Boeing 737-800 had been designed.

Short- and medium-haul passenger flying.

But after nine years in China, MSN 34252 was ready for a completely different life.

Leaving China

In early 2015, B-5133 left China Southern Airlines.

During the transition between operators, the aircraft briefly carried the registration M-ABID.

Then came a much more permanent identity.

TC-TJS.

On 27 April 2015, the Boeing was delivered to Corendon Airlines.

The move changed far more than the registration painted on the fuselage.

The aircraft was moving from one of Asia's largest airline networks into the European leisure market.

And its appearance changed too.

The Split Scimitar Transformation

When B-5133 was originally delivered in 2006, it did not have winglets.

By the time the aircraft entered service with Corendon, that had changed.

The Boeing was fitted with Split Scimitar Winglets.

The modification gave TC-TJS a distinctive appearance.

Instead of ending with the original clean wingtip, each wing now carried the characteristic aerodynamic extensions associated with the Split Scimitar system.

The purpose was not cosmetic.

Winglets reduce the aerodynamic drag created by wingtip vortices.

Reducing that drag can lower fuel consumption, particularly on longer sectors.

For an aircraft operating frequent leisure flights across Europe and the Mediterranean, even relatively small improvements in efficiency accumulate over thousands of flights.

TC-TJS therefore entered its second major career not only with a different registration and airline, but also with an aerodynamic upgrade.

Becoming TC-TJS

Corendon Airlines had been established in Turkey in 2004 and began flying in 2005.

Its business was closely connected with tourism.

Antalya became central to its operations.

For millions of European holidaymakers, Antalya and the Turkish Mediterranean coast represent one of Europe's major leisure destinations.

Aircraft such as TC-TJS became the machines connecting those holiday regions with cities across the continent.

Germany.

The Netherlands.

Austria.

Scandinavia.

And many more.

TC-TJS became a familiar sight at European airports.

Photographic records show the aircraft at Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, Helsinki, Vienna and Linz during its Corendon career.

The former China Southern Boeing had found a completely different aviation world.

From Asia to European Holiday Aviation

The contrast between the first and second halves of the aircraft's life was considerable.

As B-5133, it had spent nine years in China.

As TC-TJS, it became part of the seasonal rhythm of European tourism.

Summer was particularly intense.

Aircraft such as TC-TJS could operate repeatedly between Antalya and European cities, moving thousands of holidaymakers every week.

Morning departures.

Quick turnarounds.

Afternoon sectors.

Late-night arrivals.

Then the cycle started again.

This was not glamorous aviation.

It was high-utilisation commercial aviation.

And that makes TC-TJS an excellent example of what the Boeing 737-800 did so successfully around the world.

The 737-800 Workhorse

The Boeing 737-800 became one of the most successful members of the Boeing 737 family.

It was large enough to carry substantial passenger loads while remaining suitable for short- and medium-haul networks.

For leisure airlines, that combination was particularly attractive.

An aircraft could fly relatively short sectors between European cities and Mediterranean destinations while retaining enough range for significantly longer operations when required.

TC-TJS demonstrated exactly that versatility.

And its story was not limited to China and Turkey.

Another Asian chapter was still to come.

SpiceJet

Between 2017 and 2018, TC-TJS operated for SpiceJet in India while remaining connected to Corendon Airlines.

The registration remained TC-TJS.

But the operating environment changed again.

An aircraft that had begun life with China Southern, crossed into European holiday aviation and received a Turkish registration was now flying in another of the world's largest aviation markets.

After this period, TC-TJS returned to regular Corendon Airlines operations.

It was another example of the flexibility that defined the aircraft's career.

One Boeing 737.

Multiple markets.

Multiple operating environments.

And thousands of flights across Asia and Europe.

Back with Corendon

From 2018, TC-TJS was again a familiar part of Corendon's own operation.

The aircraft continued flying holiday routes across Europe.

Photographs document it at Helsinki in 2019, Düsseldorf in 2020 and Linz in 2021.

At Linz, for example, TC-TJS was photographed arriving from Antalya as Corendon flight XC6207.

That single flight illustrates the aircraft's everyday role particularly well.

Turkey to Austria.

Holidaymakers travelling between Central Europe and the Mediterranean.

This was exactly the kind of mission that defined the second half of TC-TJS's life.

Through the Pandemic

Then came 2020.

COVID-19 devastated the aviation and tourism industries.

Borders closed.

Flights disappeared.

Holiday travel collapsed.

For leisure airlines such as Corendon, the effects were immediate.

But unlike many aircraft from its generation that never returned after the pandemic, TC-TJS did fly again.

The aircraft remained active into the following years.

By October 2021, it was once again operating holiday flights between Antalya and European destinations.

The Boeing had survived another major disruption in its career.

But it was now approaching its eighteenth year.

2023 – The Final Flights

In 2023, TC-TJS was withdrawn from service.

Its career had lasted almost eighteen years.

Approximately nine of those years had been spent in China.

The remainder had been dominated by Corendon and European leisure aviation, with the additional SpiceJet chapter in India.

The aircraft had travelled through several very different aviation markets.

China.

Turkey.

Europe.

India.

But this time there would be no new airline and no new passenger identity.

Its flying career was over.

Dismantled in 2024

In 2024, MSN 34252 was dismantled.

The Boeing 737 that had begun life as B-5133 and later become TC-TJS ceased to exist as a complete aircraft.

Its career had stretched from 2006 into the 2020s.

From China Southern Airlines to Corendon Airlines.

From an aircraft without winglets to one fitted with distinctive Split Scimitar Winglets.

From Asian domestic and regional flying to European holiday routes.

But not everything disappeared.

From TC-TJS to Aircrafttag

Part of the genuine fuselage skin of Corendon Airlines Boeing 737 TC-TJS was preserved and transformed by Aircrafttag into collectible pieces of aviation history.

And this particular aircraft offers something especially interesting.

Its preserved material contains a remarkable variety of original areas from the Corendon fuselage.

Red.

White.

Logo sections.

Registration areas.

Even distinctive pieces connected with the aircraft's markings have been preserved.

Aircrafttag also produced larger pieces of TC-TJS as aircraft-skin coasters.

These are not colours recreated to represent the aircraft.

They originate from the real fuselage.

The same material spent years exposed to the operational environment of an active Boeing 737.

Sun.

Rain.

Cold.

Heat.

Pressurisation cycles.

Ground handling.

Thousands of hours in the air.

Scratches, marks, paint variations and imperfections can remain visible.

They are part of the history of the aircraft.

Boeing 737-81B.

MSN 34252.

B-5133.

TC-TJS.

From China Southern to Corendon

TC-TJS does not need to be a rare prototype or an enormous four-engine Jumbo to tell an interesting aviation story.

Its importance comes from what it represents.

Everyday commercial aviation.

The aircraft began in China as B-5133.

Nine years later, it crossed into a completely different aviation market.

It gained Split Scimitar Winglets.

It became TC-TJS.

It carried European holidaymakers for Corendon.

It operated for SpiceJet in India.

It survived the enormous disruption of the pandemic.

And it continued flying until 2023.

In 2024, the aircraft was dismantled.

The complete Boeing no longer exists.

But part of its genuine Corendon fuselage skin has been preserved by Aircrafttag.

A physical piece of an aircraft whose journey stretched from China to Turkey, Europe and India can continue its story.