British Airways has retired its entire Boeing 747 fleet. The UK carrier is the largest operator of jumbo jets, containing 31 within its fleet, according to BBC.
With travel restrictions in place across the globe, the aviation industry has been plagued with uncertainty. A spokesperson for BA spoke to BBC and said: ‘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.’ The 747s make up around 10% of BA’s total fleet.
In a statement, British Airways explained that it has operated 134 worldwide repatriation flights, from 33 cities across 21 countries over the last 3 months. Along with IAG Cargo, the airline flies tonnes of PPE, medicine and vital food supplies into the UK each week
‘Over the last three months, while the majority of British Airways’ fleet has been grounded due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline has been keeping vital air links open to repatriate UK residents and fly much needed PPE equipment to the UK for the NHS,’ it said.
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