Goodbye 747, British Airways retires last jumbo is the end of an era
It took off yesterday on a gray day and under a thick drizzle, in true British style, the latest Boeing 747/400 from the [...]
British Airways
Oneworld
It took off yesterday on a gray day and under a heavy drizzle, in true British style, the last Boeing 747/400 in the British Airways fleet. Admiring it was a crowd of planespotters who gathered at Heathrow to greet the Queen of the Skies for the last time.
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The pilot took off from runway 27R and, after turning, performed a flyover of the airport, a sort of farewell ceremony before heading to Scotland, to St Athan Airport, where there is an "aircraft graveyard." Here they are brought to be scrapped or in some cases dismantled so that some parts can be reused.
"Today was a moving day," said Alex Cruz, CEO of the company, "as it was our last chance to see the Queen of the Skies depart from our home at Heathrow Airport. The 747s have played a key role in our 100-year history, forming the backbone of our fleet for more than 50 years. I know I speak for our customers and the thousands of colleagues who have spent much of their careers on board when I say that we will miss seeing them grace our skies."
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To mark the occasion, the company also wanted to launch a flash promotion, making 747 tickets available at an insane price for destinations that were being reached right from London by jumbo.
Two dates will remain in history: April 14, 1971 the first scheduled flight of a 747 in BA livery and then April 6 when G-CIVB landed from its last flight arriving from Miami.
British Airways is not the only company that hastened the decision to retire this giant of the skies; its fate was already sealed, the pandemic has only hastened the timing of the end of the plane that revolutionized the world in the 1970s-80s.
