Qantas farewells the 747

QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce yesterday officiated at a formal ceremony to bid farewell to the airline’s last Boeing 747 aircraft.

“This is a really special occasion for us,” he said, noting that in normal times there would be thousands in attendance.

However COVID-19 necessitated a different format, with just 150 special guests, most longstanding QF staff, able to be there.

Joyce highlighted the iconic role the 747 had played in its 49-year history with QF, saying the vision of his predecessors in choosing the Boeing jet had facilitated the transformation of travel.

As well as carrying hundreds of millions of Aussies across the globe, the jumbo was also everpresent in moments of crisis, evacuating people from Darwin after the 1974 cyclone, from Bali following the 2002 bombing, as well as from Cairo during the Arab Spring and from a range of countries after the 2004 tsunami.

Joyce said while COVID-19 was the “toughest period we’ve ever had,” he was cautiously optimistic about the future.

“Given the amazing history of the 747, with how it’s changed Australia, how it’s changed us, we know that spirit will get us through,” he said.

“And we know the next chapter of the 787s, of hopefully the A350s, will do what the 747s have done, with overcoming the tyranny of distance, with giving the ability to see family and friends again, we given people the ability to see the world again.

“And we know we all want that, we know we all need it, the 747 did it for 49 years, our new aircraft will do it for at least the same,” he concluded.

More from the historic event on

of today’s Travel Daily.