WATCH: BA's Boeing 747s fly for the last time from Heathrow
See all the reaction as people tweet their memories of the 'Queen of the skies'
British Airways’ last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747 planes have taken off from the airport on their final flights.
The jumbo jets left the west London airport shortly after 8.35am this morning (Thursday), as more than 18,000 people watched a livestream of the event on Facebook:
The airline brought forward the retirement of its fleet of 747-400 aircraft due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation sector.
What did the 747s do at Heathrow this morning?
The last two planes were supposed to be taking off at the same time from parallel runways, but instead departed from the same runway separately.
The two aircraft will be flying to Kemble in Gloucestershire and St Athan airfield in south Wales, BA said.
The two planes involved in the take off this morning were the G-CIVB and the G-CIVY.
BA said the G-CIVB model entered service in February 1994 and had flown 59 million miles, while G-CIVY had clocked-up 45 million air miles having first flown in September 1998.
The 747 is an iconic aircraft and some people were very sad to see it go into retirement.
People share their memories of the 'Queen of The Skies'
The Boeing 747-400 was launched in 1969 and were considerably larger than existing airliners, with a capacity of around 550 passengers and this morning people have been sharing their memories of the legendary aircraft.
They were known by British Airways as The Queen Of The Skies and have been flying for over 50 years.
British Airways once boasted the world’s largest fleet of the 747-400 model with 31 aircraft.
The 747 fleet is to be replaced by quieter, more fuel-efficient aircraft as part of the airline’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The airline expects the last 747s, currently positioned in Wales, to leave the fleet by the end of the year.