British Airways confirms ‘with great sadness’ it’s scrapping whole fleet of iconic Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets
BRITISH Airways has confirmed “with great sadness” it is retiring all 31 of its Boeing 747s.
The airline had originally planned to retire the Boeing 747 jets by 2024 and gradually replace them.
But with passenger numbers plummeting due to coronavirus they have been forced to bring forward their plans.
A BA spokesman told the : “It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect.
“It is unlikely our magnificent ‘queen of the skies’ will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again due to the downturn in travel caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic.”
Instead the BA fleet will use the 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 as they are more fuel-efficient than the dated Boeings, which have been in use since 1971.
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- The first Boeing 747 – and the original ‘Jumbo Jet’ – took its first flight from Washington in 1969.
- The wide-body aircraft, built by lead engineer Joe Sutter, was known as ‘Jumbo’ for its extremely large size.
- The aircraft began flying with passengers from 1970 and was introduced to BA’s fleet in 1971.
- Beyond its high level of comfort, the 747 could carry hundreds of people for the first time – making air travel cheaper and mass tourism possible.
- By the end of 2018, Boeing had built more than 1,500 747s of all types.
- US-based Boeing signalled the end of the plane’s production a year ago.
Each of the ditched jets will be broken up and scrapped for parts in the next few months, marking the end of an era.
BA, which is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), said the planes will all be retired with immediate effect.
The 747s represent about 10% of BA’s total fleet.
According to travel data firm Cirium, around 500 747s are still in service, of which 30 are still flying passengers.
A source told the “It is entirely Covid-related.
“We don’t see passenger levels returning to normal until 2024 at the earliest and we just cannot foresee a time when we will use that size of aircraft again.
“It is a heart-breaking day for everyone at BA and for the customers it will be awful as well.This is one of the most recognisable aircraft after Concorde.”
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