 In the early 1970s TEA became the first airline to order an Airbus and subsequently operated the only Airbus A300B1 variant to be used in public service - distinguished by its shorter fuselage and lack of slats - until its retirement in November 1990.The airline expanded, operating a second Airbus A300 for a while and started to acquire Boeing 737-200 aircraft.It later acquired Belgian tour operator SunSnacks, which it had helped to form in 1976, and created a subsidiary, TEAMCO (Trans European Airways Maintenance Company) to handle maintenance of its own aircraft and those of other operators, both civil and military.