The past week has seen a teary, yet fond farewell to the 747 fleets of both British Airways and Qantas, bringing the curtain down on five decades of service for the ‘Queen of the skies’.
BA has retired its fleet of 31 747-400 aircraft with immediate effect as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Qantas has bought forward the scheduled retirement of the fleet by six months.
BA is in the midst of a massive investment programme, which has seen the delivery of six A350s and 32 Boeing 787s, delivered with the Business Class Club Suite product.
The original aircraft featured 27 First Class seats and 292 Economy seats. Initially, the upper deck contained a lounge, with lounge chair seating. Later the model played host to the world’s very first flat-bed seat in 1999.
Today’s aircraft can seat up to 345 customers in four classes – First, Club World (Business), World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) and World Traveller (Economy). British Airways recently refreshed the interiors of a number of its 747 aircraft which were expected to remain in service for several years to come.
In 1979, Qantas became the first airline to operate an all Boeing 747 fleet.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said: “This aircraft was well ahead of its time and extremely capable. Engineers and cabin crew loved working on them and pilots loved flying them. So did passengers. They have carved out a very special place in aviation history and I know they’ll be greatly missed by a lot of people, including me.
“Time has overtaken the 747 and we now have a much more fuel efficient aircraft with even better range in our fleet, such as the 787 Dreamliner that we use on Perth-London and hopefully before too long, the Airbus A350 for our Project Sunrise flights non-stop to New York and London,” added Joyce.
The 747 made international travel possible for millions of people for the first time, and it will be missed, but the next generation of more fuel efficient aircraft will open the skies to millions more.
