British Airways (BA) bid a farewell to its final two Boeing 747-400 aircraft based at Heathrow Airport (LHR), the United Kingdom. The iconic jumbos were scheduled to depart synchronically on parallel runways for the very last time on October 8, 2020. However, cloudy and rainy weather conditions ruined plans.
One of the jumbos is registered as G-CIVB and painted in its heritage Negus livery while another Queen of the Skies, registered as G-CIVY, has a standard BA Chatham Dockyard livery.
In order to especially perpetuate the final farewell, BA planned to hold a synchronized dual take off on parallel Heathrow runways. The rare moment should have marked the end of the 50 years period during which BA was operating from London Heathrow flights with Boeing 747 fleet. The dual take-off should have become a symbol of incidentally completed synchronized landings on the dual runways made by two BA’s jumbo jets during the delivery in the summer of 1989.
Unfortunately, cloudy and rainy weather conditions hindered the implementation of the idea
“The aircraft leaves our home at Heathrow for the very last time. We will pay tribute to them for the incredible part they have played in our 100-year history and to the millions of customers and BA colleagues who have flown onboard and taken care of them“, in a press release announced Alex Cruz, the CEO of British Airways.
The British airline considered to put the Negus livery painted G-CIVB on a public display at the Cotswold Airport in Kemble for future generations to admire, as currently there is no Boeing 747 on display at any of the aviation museums in the United Kingdom.
The early retirement of British Airways Boeing 747 fleet was brought forward due to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the airline.