End of the jumbo: British Airways retires entire Boeing 747 fleet early

For over 50-years, Boeing’s ‘Queen of the Skies’ has been the world’s most easily recognised jetliner with its humped fuselage and four engines, but its days had already been numbered before the pandemic struck earlier this year.

BA had been planning to retire the aircraft in 2024 but with passenger numbers decimated this year and forecasts that it will be years before they recover, the airline said it was unlikely its 747s would ever operate commercially for it again. “It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect,” BA said.

The 747 plane democratised global air travel in the 1970s but fell behind modern twin-engine aircraft and now trails newer planes in fuel efficiency, making it expensive to run. “While the aircraft will always have a special place in our heart, as we head into the future we will be operating more flights on modern, fuel-efficient aircraft such as our new A350s and 787s,” BA added.