The broad physique, four-engine Boeing 747-400 is an iconic a part of British Airways’ fleet.
BA, the world’s largest operator of the Boeing 747, describes the 747-400 as ‘a confirmed performer with excessive reliability’ which boasts excessive reliability and has included main aerodynamic enhancements over earlier 747 fashions, which have a historical past stretching again 50 years.
The plane’s life begins in April 1970 when BOAC – which might later merge with BEA to type in the present day’s airline – took supply of its first Boeing 747-100, which was the twenty third to be constructed by Boeing, based on its line quantity.
BOAC then took supply of one other 14 plane over the following three years, with the fifteenth plane delivered in December 1973.
A Boeing 747 long-range wide-body 4 engined business jet airliner for the BOAC – British Abroad Airways Company flying above the UK on 7 April 1971
None of these early fashions stay flying in the present day. Most have been scrapped, a handful have been saved, and BA’s first 747 left the fleet in October 1998, aviation writer Simple Flying experiences.
After BOAC and BEA merged, the 15 Boeing 747s was transferred to British Airways on April 1, 1974.
BA took supply of 4 747-100s, bringing the full fleet measurement to 19.
On February 18, 1991, British Airways’ Boeing 747-100 was destroyed in Kuwait in the course of the Gulf Warfare, changing into the one BA 747-100 to be concerned in a hull loss throughout its time with the airline.
BA acquired its first Boeing 747-200 on June 22, 1977, and the airline went on to function a complete of 24 passenger 747-200s that have been delivered between 1977 and 1988.
No British Airways 747-200s have been concerned in hull loss whereas with the airline.
The Boeing 747-400 is the BA mannequin most acquainted to us in the present day, and is the one kind nonetheless in service with British Airways in the present day.
BA’s first 747-400 was delivered in June 1989, and it flew with the flag service for practically 30 years.
The airline operated a complete of 57 Boeing 747-400s, that means that BA has operated 100 passenger 747s and one cargo 747.
747-400s have been delivered for ten years till April 1999, making BA’s youngest plane 21 years previous.
British Airways introduced that its fleet of Boeing 747 plane, fondly referred to as ‘The Queen of the Skies’, are prone to have flown their final scheduled business service
However the ‘queen of the skies’ will now not don the crimson, white and blue of the Union Jack after British Airways retired its fleet of Boeing 747s because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The airline, which was the world’s largest operator of the 747-400 mannequin, had already deliberate to floor its fleet of 31 of the long-lasting wide-bodied jets in 2024.
However the pandemic, which has seen many of the world’s planes grounded for the most effective a part of three months, has hastened its journey into retirement, particularly as forecasters predict that passenger numbers will stay decrease than regular, probably for years to come back.
BA’s predecessor BOAC had first used the 747 in 1971 and, as with many airways, the aircraft – affectionately known as both the ‘jumbo jet’ or the ‘queen of the skies’ – grew to become a logo of the brand new age of mass journey to all corners of the planet.
Fairford, July 20, 2019: A British Airways particular liveried Boeing 747 takes to the skies alongside the Crimson Arrows in the course of the 2019 Royal Worldwide Air Tattoo. The Boeing 747 has been painted within the airline’s predecessor British Abroad Airways Company (BOAC) livery to mark British Airways’ centenary
Its days have been numbered, although, in gentle of latest, fashionable, fuel-efficient plane equivalent to Airbus’ A350 and Boeing’s 787.
Greater than 1,500 jumbos have been produced by Boeing, and it has traditionally been a business success for the producer and the airways. However its heyday is lengthy prior to now and any sight of the jet, with its distinctive hump on the high, is now a rarity.
Simply 30 of the planes have been in service as of Tuesday, with an extra 132 in storage, based on aviation information agency Cirium.
British Airways’ 747-400s have a capability of 345 passengers and might attain a high velocity of 614 mph.
