British Airways to retire Boeing 747 fleet due to pandemic
British Airways announced it would be retiring its Boeing 747 fleet of planes as the Covid-19 pandemic hits airlines and consumers continue to be wary about travelling.
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The 31 747-400 jets, out of a wider fleet of 300 aircraft, will be retired three years ahead of schedule.
The company, which is the largest operator of 747s, said in a statement: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect.
“It is unlikely our magnificent queen of the skies will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again due to the downturn in travel caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic.”
British Airways said it would be leaning towards more modern and fuel-efficient aircraft for the future such as the Airbus 350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The company has set targets to be carbon neutral by 2050.
BA is going through a round of cost-cutting as it tries to deal with the economic effects of the ongoing pandemic which has affected the travel industry the worst.
The airline was forced to ground most of its fleet in late March, with most routes still due to restart only later in July.