BA JUMBOS JETTISONED

Airline scraps its 31 ‘Queen of Skies’ Boeing 747s

BRITISH Airways has ended the era of the jumbo jet by ditching its entire fleet of the aircraft.

The airline was the last major operator of the iconic Boeing 747, known as the Queen of the Skies.

BA added the planes to its fleet in 1971 and originally planned to retire the 31 aircraft it still had by 2024.

However, a plunge in passenger numbers because of the coronavirus pandemic has forced it to bring forward the date and end their flying days with immediate effect.

The four-engine jets, which have raised cockpits and passenger decks, will now be broken up for parts. The first Boeing 747 took to the air in 1969 and over the years they have flown 3.5 billion passengers, equivalent to half of the world’s population.

BA confirmed: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet due to the downturn in travel caused by Covid-19.

“While the aircraft will always have a special place in our heart, as we head into the future we will be operating more flights on modern, fuel-efficient aircraft such as

A350s and 787s, to help us achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

Chief executive Alex Cruz said the “heartbreaking” decision was necessary as the carrier looks to “reduce the size of our business” in preparation for “a very different future”.

The airline is locked in a row with unions over plans to axe up to 12,000 staff and rehire many of the 30,000 workers who are not made redundant on worse terms and pay.

We will be operating more fuelefficient aircraft like Boeing 787s

B.A. SPOKESMAN ON RETIRING THE 747 JETS

END OF AN ERA Four of BA’S Boeing 747s at terminal