Last month, I wrote about British Airways’ phenomenal plan to paint four aircraft in retro liveries to celebrate their centennial year of flying. The first aircraft to be painted is G-BYGC, a 20 year Boeing 747-400, fondly known as the British Airways Retro Livery 747 now.
Large crowds gathered at Heathrow a couple of days ago, to watch the much-anticipated arrival of a British Airways Boeing 747 painted in the iconic design of its predecessor British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).
The aircraft entered the IAC paint bay at Dublin Airport on February 5 where it was stripped of its current British Airways Chatham Dockyard design before being repainted with the BOAC livery which adorned the BOAC fleet between 1964 and 1974.
From the paint bay at Dublin Airport, the BOAC Boeing 747 flew directly to Heathrow on the aptly named BA100 touching down this morning. Its next flight was for New York JFK operating as flight BA117. This flight is particularly significant as it was the first route the B747 flew in BOAC colours.
After this, the aircraft will continue to fly British Airways’ 747-operated routes proudly showcasing the design as part of the airline’s centenary celebrations. The aircraft can be tracked using Flight Radar, which will feature a special image of the livery.
The BOAC livery will remain on the Boeing 747 until it retires in 2023, to allow as many customers as possible to have the chance to see it. By this time, British Airways will have retired the majority of its 747 fleet, replacing them with new state-of-the-art long-haul aircraft.
Here is a video that Dublin Airport posted.
Ready for takeoff and looking fine @DublinAirport #BOAC 747. Get ready @HeathrowAirport you’re in for a treat. #BA100 #avgeek @British_Airways. pic.twitter.com/kDY1LuWvpY
— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) February 18, 2019
You can catch up on the entire plotted history of British Airways here.
Taxiing for take off, our beautiful BOAC 747 is on its way to @JFKairport! #BA100 #BOAC pic.twitter.com/6zAYHVNSOD
— British Airways (@British_Airways) February 19, 2019
While British Airways doesn’t operate any Boeing 747-400 flights to India at the moment, they used to operate a seasonal Boeing 747 service to Bengaluru, and Ajay has been on the 747 from Mumbai many a times too back in the day. Spotters will have a field day if the British Airways Retro Livery 747 makes it to India.
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