BOEING BOEING ..GONE
Last BA Jumbos fly out from Heathrow
THE last two British Airways’ jumbo jets based at Heathrow flew into history yesterday as they took off from the airport for a final time.
Ground crew and engineers waved an emotional goodbye to Boeing’s vaunted 747s, dubbed the Queen of the Skies, as they soared above a rainy West London shortly after 8.30am.
More than 18,000 watched a livestream of the event on Facebook.
One Jumbo had entered service in February 1994 and had clocked up 59 million miles. The other, which first flew in September 1998, had reached 45 million miles. Both were headed to UK airports.
One BA pilot told how flying the iconic US aircraft “had made a boy hood dream come true.”
The huge jet, which helped bring long haul travel to the ordinary passenger, is being retired by BA four years early because of a slump in air travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The trusty 747 had served BA since 1971, nearly 50 years. BA senior first officer Mark Vanhoenacker said:
“The 747 was a joy to fly. It was a very large airplane but didn’t feel like it – it felt very responsive and manoeuvrable. “The plane was so distinctive. It’s a beautiful design, a classic like Concorde, and I often think the upper deck made it look more birdlike.
He added: “Whenever I saw one waiting through the glass of a terminal I couldn’t believe my childhood dream of flying one had come true.”
Pete Glass, an air traffic control manager at Heathrow, said: “Saying goodbye has evoked mixed emotions for those of us with a great deal of fondness for The Queen of the Skies.” Around a dozen of BA’s remaining 747-400s are gathering dust at other airfields. All 747s will go for scrap. Launched in 1969, it was much larger than others airliners and could carry 550 passengers. It went on to fly 3.5 billion travellers, equivalent to half of the world’s population. The 747 fleet is due to be replaced by quieter, more fu fuel-efficient aircraft as part of BA’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.