Last of the BA 747's took off today

[albie999]

Spotted on BBC Breakfast News (at 8.35) that the last 2 British Airways 747 (Jumbos), took off from Heathrow Airport this morning. I live in Cardiff/Newport, so have seen a load of the current 747's parked up at Cardiff Airport. I could not figure if they meant that BA will no longer be flying any 747's, or they just mean they will not be flying out of Heathrow anymore

 

[robinthehood]

Retiring the fleet as far as I know. No more 747 flights.

 

[albie999]

Wow ... there are quite a few down at Cardiff Airport to be dismantled then. I used to work at the BA Maintenance hangar at Cardiff, hope they are able to re-configure that for other aircraft, as it was specifically designed and built to fit around a 747

 

[rulefan]

Retiring the fleet as far as I know. No more 747 flights.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ires-boeing-747-fleet-as-covid-19-hits-travel

 

[sunshine]

They were being retired anyway, all of them are over 20 years old, COVID has just accelerated the process. Although BA will still operate 747s for cargo.

They are much heavier, noisier and dirtier than newer aircraft. Fuel consumption is more than double a 787 (I know capacity is double too).

 

[Neilds]

We drive past Kemble Airport (Cirencester) regularly and there must be about a dozen BA 747s there along with loads of others. Local news report a few weeks ago said some were maybe going to a Japanese airline but rest would be scrapped. Kemble is used to scrap aircraft so you see them in various states of cutting up

 

[Robster59]

There can always be another use for these
Covid vaccine: 8,000 jumbo jets needed to deliver doses globally, says IATA

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

There is a program on one of the freeview channels about plane dismantlers based in S Wales so probably where the BA ones are headed. Quite interesting if that's your thing, even scrap planes are worth literally millions for spares.

 

[albie999]

The factory for the dismantling, is in St. Athan .. right next door (almost) to the new Aston Martin factory (building the DBX). Have driven past it a few times, and quite a few planes half-way through being dismantled

 

[sunshine]

There is a program on one of the freeview channels about plane dismantlers based in S Wales so probably where the BA ones are headed. Quite interesting if that's your thing, even scrap planes are worth literally millions for spares.

A big rolls royce engine alone is worth $20m+. There must be thousands of other components that can be sold second hand. On the other hand I last flew in a BA 747 about a year ago, the interior was pretty dated and shabby so no resale value there!

From BA's perspective, the financing on these aircraft were fully paid off a long time ago, running unencumbered and fully depreciated. So any cash from scrappage is a bonus.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Good riddance. I always got one when I flew to our office in Colorado and back. Very dated and prone to breaking down a lot meaning cancellations and delays.

 

[Captainron]

I flew on them loads. Loved them. Now been on the replacement A380’s a few times and I will miss them.

 

[SaintHacker]

A big rolls royce engine alone is worth $20m+..

Possibly for a fairly new Trent, they'll be lucky to get a fifth of that for a dated RB211