British Airways' remaining two Boeing 747 aircraft based at Heathrow taxied for take off for the last time today.
To commemorate the occasion the airline's two aircraft took to the skies one after the other from runway 27R. Once in the air, G-CIVY circled back over the southerly runway in an emotional farewell to its home before heading to St Athan where the aircraft will be retired.
G-CIVB, painted in the airline's historic Negus livery and G-CIVY, in its current Chatham Dockyard livery, are going to be retiring in the UK at Kemble and St Athan, respectively. Between the two aircraft they have flown an impressive 104 million miles in their 47 years of service and carried millions of British Airways customers.
To express its gratitude to the millions of people who flew on the jets, British Airways is also offering a jumbo reduction on seven hundred and forty seven (747) Club World seats which will be on sale on ba.com for just GBP999 for the lucky customers that find them. The limited number of ultra-low fare seats are live now to popular destinations that the airline's Queen of The Skies used to fly to which will include Miami, Dallas and Cape Town.
At 7:47am this morning, hundreds of aviation enthusiasts and customers flooded social media sharing their favourite 747 memories using #BA747farewell.
Alex Cruz, British Airways' Chairman and CEO said, 'Today was an emotional milestone in the retirement of our 747 fleet as it was our last chance to see the Queen of the Skies depart from our home at Heathrow airport. The 747s have played a huge role in our 100-year history, forming the backbone of our fleet for over 50 years. I know I speak for our customers and the many thousands of colleagues who have spent much of their careers alongside them when I say we will miss seeing them grace our skies.'
In July, British Airways announced that its remaining 747s had sadly flown their last commercial services as a result of the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the airline and the aviation sector. The fleet is being replaced by quieter more fuel efficient aircraft as part of the airline's commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Notes to editors:
More images will be uploaded to this site throughout the day
The GBP999 fares are available to Atlanta, Austin, Nashville, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Charleston, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Portland, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose (California), Tampa, Washington, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Mexico City, Cancun, Islamabad, Lahore, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Dubai, Muscat, Tel Aviv, Cape Town, Mauritius, Male, Seychelles. Full T&Cs can be found here
British Airways expects the last 747s (currently positioned in Wales) to leave the fleet by the end of the year.
British Airways 747 G-CIVB
Date it entered service
February 15, 1994
Retirement date
September 08, 2020
Popular/recent routes
Last passenger flight was April 6, 2020 from Miami to Heathrow
Livery
Current livery: Negus
Previous livery: Landor and was named 'City of Litchfield'
Fact and stats
(approx.)
Operated 13,398 flights
Flown for 118,445 hours
Flown 59 million miles
British Airways 747 G-CIVY
Date it entered service
September 29, 1998
Retirement date
September 08, 2020
Popular/recent routes
March 20, 2020 last passenger flight from Chicago to Heathrow
April 5, 2020 last freighter flight from Dallas to Heathrow
Livery
Chatham Dockyard
Fact and stats
(approx.)
Operated 11,034 flights
Flown for 90,161 hours
Flown 45 million miles
Facts and stats:
Boeing has been manufacturing 747 aircraft for more than 50 years
BOAC flew its first 747 flight on 14th April 1971
British Airways took delivery of its first 747-400 in July 1989 and its last in April 1999
At its height, the airline had a fleet of 57 747-400s
British Airways was the world's biggest operator of 747-400 aircraft
The 747-400 has 6ft high winglets on the tips of its wings to improve efficiency
It has 16 main wheels and two landing nose wheels
The wings of a 747-400 span 213ft and are big enough to accommodate 50 parked cars
The tail height of 64ft is equivalent to a six-storey building
The 747-400 is 231ft long
About British Airways' retro liveries:
Last year to mark its centenary British Airways re-painted three of its jumbo jets in heritage colours donning it's historic BOAC, Negus and Landor livery The BOAC jet put in a guest appearance with the Red Arrows much to the delight of spectators at the Royal International Air Tattoo.
BOEING 
