A Boeing 737-800, stored at San Bernardino airport (SBD), California, became a concert stage for a few hours on September 16, 2023.
More than 4,500 people flocked to a big outdoor party that was held on the tarmac of the airport to mark the first anniversary of the launch of San Bernardino airport’s scheduled commercial services.
This airport, located at the easternmost edge of the Greater LA area, focuses its activity on MRO and other aerospace industrial activities and also handles some executive aviation flights. Since the summer of 2022, Breeze Airways has operated two regular routes from this airport, one to San Francisco (with a continuation to Provo, Utah) and the other to Las Vegas (with a continuation to Hartford, Connecticut).
Two bands, The Walters and Almost Monday, performed for the crowd, which included not only staff from the airport and related aerospace companies, but also residents from neighboring communities.
Attendees reached the party area by going through the terminal and then sliding down to the tarmac from one of the jet bridges, to which an emergency slide (from an out-of-service, stored Boeing 757) had been attached.
The stage was set onboard a retired Boeing 737-800 (registration PR-GIV), whose fuselage had been cut open a few years ago for a firefighting exercise, exposing the mid-section of the cabin.
The aircraft in question used to operate for Brazilian low-cost airline GOL and was retired from service in 2016, after being transferred to another company called Unical. It has since been stored at San Bernardino airport.
This was not the first time that this aircraft served as a concert stage. In July 2022, the airport hosted a very similar event, celebrating the launch of the aforementioned Breeze Airways service.
