Confirmation has arrived that G-BYGC, a British Airways Boeing 747-436 that wore the ‘BOAC’ retro colours, has been scrapped.
British Airways pulled the plug on its Boeing 747 fleet during the global pandemic when international travel was halted. While the airline always had plans to remove the 747s, it was expected the queen of the skies would remain flying for many more years.
In 2019 British Airways began unveiling its retro schemes, 3 of which featured on the Boeing 747 series. However, thanks to the effects of the pandemic, these units received very little time in the skies.
G-BYGC arrived back at London Heathrow on the 18th of February, 2019, with large crowds gathering to welcome the first heritage design aircraft.
British Airways were ultimately not the passenger airline to rapidly retire the queen of the skies, with KLM and Qantas following similarly.
Unfortunately for the British Airways 747s, their fates have been either lesser known or confirmed to be scrapped rather than preserved. In the case of BOAC, its life was known to be nearing the end, with in June it being documented that due to funding, it would be parted out.
Absolutely disgraceful
She was an icon and was supposed to be preserved for the nation
Heads should roll for this
Totally devastated
Totally agree surely it could of been stored at Manchester aviation park I suppose getting it from where it was to a new home was not an option
Such a disgrace it’s been scrapped
The “retro” livery was interesting, but there are many 747’s stored at Cotswold Airport and at least one BA example is due for preservation there!
Saw it a few weeks ago when delivering to Aston Martin.
Absolutely gutted