Originally Posted by
Expressflight
I shouldn't start rubbing your hands too soon regarding how noisy these 727s will be. Both are, in fact, 727RE aircraft which were re-engined with MD-80 engines installed in No. 1 & 3 position; only the centre engine remains in its original form. Not only is this variant very much quieter but it's field performance is vastly improved which is an important factor when operating at high weights out of SEN. Also the positioning flight from Djibouti has simply been delayed by 24 hours.
Regarding the Eastern E 190, it looks to be carrying out the necessary line training sectors into LCY in preparation for the operation of ITA routes into that airport this autumn.
The OSRA 727s have the PW JT8D-217C/219 (Valsan) engines which are a little quieter. When they flew for us (FedEx) they were used on the longer South America routes to VCP & CCS.