British Airways has announced that permanent homes have been found for its recently repainted retro-livery Boeing 747s. AVGeeks can breathe a sigh of relief as the retro Landor and BOAC-schemed BA Boeing 747s avoided a run in with the scrap yard, and will now be preserved for future aviation enthusiasts to enjoy.
27-year-old G-BNLY (pictured above) was repainted in Landor livery (used from 1984-1997), re-entering service in its new colors on March 9, 2019. The aircraft is set to leave BA’s fleet at the end of 2020 (along with G-BYGC), and will find its final resting place as an exhibit at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
It will join its sister 747-400 registered G-CIVW (painted in current gen Chatham Dockyard livery) which was retired in October, along with a much older Boeing 747-200 (previously registered G-BDXJ) which also flew for British Airways for 22 years. G-BDXJ was delivered to Dunsford in 2005 and was used as a film set for James Bond’s Casino Royale, and was most popularly seen on many of BBC’s Top Gear episodes.
As for the younger 21-year-old G-BYGC, it was draped in the BOAC ‘Gold Speedbird’ livery used from 1963 to 1974, and re-entered service in its retro scheme on February 18, 2019.
BOAC livery. Photo by Stuart Bailey
G-BYGC is also leaving at the end of the year, making the very short hop from BA’s maintenance base in Cardiff to the Bro Tathan business park in the Vale of Glamorgan. It will be maintained as a heritage piece by aviation specialists eCube Solutions to showcase the pre-eminent contribution British Airways’ 747 fleet made to UK aviation.
The already retired Negus-painted 747 (registered G-CIVB) also found a new home at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire.
Photo: Stuart Bailey
Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways, said:
“While we will miss seeing them grace our skies, we are delighted to have found permanent homes for our remaining centenary 747 aircraft.
“We think they have great historical importance, not only to British Airways but to the entire aviation industry, and we are pleased they will be preserved for future generations in locations in the UK.
“As the final 747s to leave our fleet, their departure will be an emotional moment for former and current British Airways staff, including our engineering team in Cardiff who have lovingly looked after our jumbo jets for decades.”
[Featured Photo: Chris Bellew/Fennell Photography]
