BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

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Zoom
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by Zoom »

I couldn't see it on FR24; it would probably have gone quite close to my house

cg_341
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by cg_341 »

Zoom wrote:
Tue 18 Aug 2020, 12:28 pm
I couldn't see it on FR24; it would probably have gone quite close to my house
Departed Heathrow at 1030L: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airc ... d#253fab35

Zoom
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by Zoom »

Thanks!

are the others going to be quietly sent over from wherever?

Just thinking my only trip on one was to Denver in 2017 for the solar eclipse; wouldn't be able to make the trip if it happened this year so I feel doubly blessed!

I'm a Gatwick boy apart from seeing them over London; always remember seeing the distinctive tailplanes* when we used to go up to the Motor Show* at Earls Court* in the late 60s / early 70s

* So that's all 3 now gone...

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ted633
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by ted633 »

I'd hazard a guess that most of them will be scrapped where they are now (Kemble, Teruel, Cardiff*) with the exception of the Heathrow ones which will gradually be returned to airworthiness and flown out over the next few weeks.

*Some of these may go elsewhere for scrap due to the large number of them there. Maybe as far as St. Athan!

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CJS
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by CJS »

Well I am glad I flew in one, but if the economics don't add up then this was always going to happen.

Progress and all that.

These are the good old days, just you wait and see.
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by GeeRam »

CJS wrote:
Wed 19 Aug 2020, 9:40 pm
These are the good old days, just you wait and see.
No, these are very much not the good old days.......

The good old days were pre-2020 I'm afraid.

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by GeeRam »

ted633 wrote:
Wed 19 Aug 2020, 3:59 pm
I'd hazard a guess that most of them will be scrapped where they are now (Kemble, Teruel, Cardiff*) with the exception of the Heathrow ones which will gradually be returned to airworthiness and flown out over the next few weeks.

*Some of these may go elsewhere for scrap due to the large number of them there. Maybe as far as St. Athan!
Yes, I would imagine that crew currency permitting, the ones at Cardiff will take the short hop to St.Athan, but there's not a whole lot of room there to store them all from Cardiff, so it will depend on crew currency, so it might be that some get flown from Cardiff to elsewhere for scrapping.

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

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BBC Breakfast at Heathrow this morning.
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

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Going for a pairs takeoff. Good grief...

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

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FarnboroJohn wrote:
Thu 08 Oct 2020, 6:50 am
Going for a pairs takeoff. Good grief...
Heathrow has two parallel runways. Simples.
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by G-CVIX »

Thanks for the heads up, 0830 takeoff apparently. Stream here:


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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

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Wasn't a pairs take off, they both went off 27R.

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by D90Man »

G-CIVB appears to be circling Kemble at 7000' presumably waiting for VFR approach conditions.
G-CIVY on finals at St Athan as I write this
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

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The Brize TAF states it will improve significantly in the next couple of hours....BECMG 0809/0811 9999 NSW BKN020

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by Zoom »

I saw them from the roundabout just by T5 entrance; fairly awful weather but got a nice rear view of the CIVJ. Thought I'd drive down to the hangar near Hatton X where I'd seen them a couple of weeks ago and on the way saw the 2nd one doing a low pass over the S Runway which I wasn't expecting but many 100s of others by the perimeter road were.

Quite sad! I'm sure I wasn't the only person there who welled up
Last edited by Zoom on Thu 08 Oct 2020, 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by capercaillie »

Anyone know the reason the Negus scheme aircraft has been selected for preservation (if it happens)? I like retro schemes and these are very well done, but for a 747-400 in regular service, it would have been better saving one of the others at Kemble or the Landor if you really wanted a retro scheme one?

Not criticising, just curious, maybe a Negus fetish?
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by Tommy »

Perhaps she's more preservabable?

I'm not sure. I'm not exactly sure what's happening with those (incl. Landor and BOAC) at Cardiff at the moment. I don't think that they really can scrap them there, and whether it's a short hop to St. Athan, or a longer hop to Kemble (or elsewhere, like Spain) or indeed whether they can remain and be scrapped on site remains to be seen I suppose.

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ted633
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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by ted633 »

Others have been scrapped on site at Cardiff before, so it's not out of the realms of possibility they will not fly again. May also be linked to why Negus was preserved, as that was the only one since the announcement that they were being retired that has had to fly.

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by Zoom »

The BBC said 747s were likely to continue as freight aircraft for another 20 years.

Which airlines are still using them for passenger flights? (not including AirForceOne)?

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by GeeRam »

Zoom wrote:
Thu 08 Oct 2020, 4:30 pm
The BBC said 747s were likely to continue as freight aircraft for another 20 years.

Which airlines are still using them for passenger flights? (not including AirForceOne)?
There's still a handful of -400's knocking about in use but not many now, BA were one of the last major users retaining a fleet.

Lufthansa and Korean Air are I think the only airlines operating the newer 747-8 for PAX services, so the days of the 747 as an airliner are rapidly drawing to a close, and likely cargo 747's will be the only version seen at LHR in the future, unless post Covid, Korean Air return to operating the odd one again if they are not currently doing so.

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by Victor77 »

Sad day for British Airways, just like when Concorde was retired. Flew on an Virgin Atlantic 747 to the states, and got a seat on the way back next to the emergency exit hatch with plenty of leg room!!

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by GeeRam »

Victor77 wrote:
Thu 08 Oct 2020, 6:06 pm
Flew on an Virgin Atlantic 747 to the states, and got a seat on the way back next to the emergency exit hatch with plenty of leg room!!
Back in 1999, I flew LHR-LAX on a Virgin 747, and was astonished to find that the FO for the flight was none other than ex-11 Sqn Lightning pilot Bob Bees :sunglasses: :sunglasses:

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

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capercaillie wrote:
Thu 08 Oct 2020, 11:56 am
Anyone know the reason the Negus scheme aircraft has been selected for preservation (if it happens)? I like retro schemes and these are very well done, but for a 747-400 in regular service, it would have been better saving one of the others at Kemble or the Landor if you really wanted a retro scheme one?
Glad to know I'm not the only person with this view! Should be a standard Chatham Dockyard scheme to be representative of the fleet if only one is preserved, or the Landor as that's a historically correct -400 colour scheme. Neither Negus or BOAC colours were worn by the -400 fleet. Same for military aircraft, should be standard "squadron jets" preserved in Museums as a representative example rather than special commemorative paint schemes.

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Re: BA retires entire Boeing 747 fleet

Post by Zoom »

PeterR wrote:
Thu 08 Oct 2020, 6:39 pm
capercaillie wrote:
Thu 08 Oct 2020, 11:56 am
Anyone know the reason the Negus scheme aircraft has been selected for preservation (if it happens)? I like retro schemes and these are very well done, but for a 747-400 in regular service, it would have been better saving one of the others at Kemble or the Landor if you really wanted a retro scheme one?
Glad to know I'm not the only person with this view! Should be a standard Chatham Dockyard scheme to be representative of the fleet if only one is preserved, or the Landor as that's a historically correct -400 colour scheme. Neither Negus or BOAC colours were worn by the -400 fleet. Same for military aircraft, should be standard "squadron jets" preserved in Museums as a representative example rather than special commemorative paint schemes.
Tend to agree but I doubt the only reason G-CIVB was chosen was its livery. They have a Concorde in Chatham livery although not that accessible at the moment. There are BEA / BOAC / Landor liveries at Duxford IIRC

As a train enthusiast I know the importance of preserving examples of things in their correct liveries but there are so many diverse examples and only a few can be retained

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