BA retires the “Queen of the Skies – 747s”

Picures by Laurence Nair

British Airways 747G0CIVW , BA1978R, today at 2:!56pm retired  after it landed at Dunsfold Aerodrome  arriving from Cardiff airport, to start its new life as a TV and Film set prop..

The Boeing 747-236B  with a  full Boeing 747 cockpit, first class Business Class and economy seating all in great condition, purchased by British Airways in 1980 with it first flight on 26b March 1980.

As the runway is very short for this type of plane and so the first attempted landing was so trickly  the pilot had to do a go around before landing safely for the seond time.

For 50 years the Boeing 747 has carried 4 billion passengers and travels at a speed of 650mph which makes it the fastest commercial plane.

British Airways final two Heathrow based Boeing 747 aircraft have set off for their last flights,  one to Kemble near Cirencester and the other  headed for an airfield near Cardiff. The much loved Jumbo jets will eventually be broken down for spares having seen their retirement brought forward by several years because of the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the airline.

Captain Al Bridger, who’s flown the iconic 747 for three decades said “It’s going to be a very emotional day. You deliver an aircraft to its destination, you shut it down, it’s almost like switching off its life support for the last time.”