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British Airways has said it will withdraw all its Boeing 747s as it suffers from the sharp slowdown in travel.
The UK airline is the world’s largest jumbo jet operator, with 31 in the fleet.
“With great sadness we can confirm that we are proposing to withdraw our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect,” a BA spokesperson told the BBC.
Airlines around the world have been hit hard by coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
“Our magnificent ‘queen of heaven’ is unlikely to re-operate commercial services for British Airways due to the slowdown in travel caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic,” the spokesperson added.
BA, which is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), said all the planes will be retired with immediate effect.
He had planned to retire the planes in 2024, but brought the date forward due to the recession.
BA is currently the world’s largest operator of the 747-400 and was first hosted in July 1989. Originally, the upper deck contained a hall that was known as the “club in heaven”.
Fuel efficient
The British airline added that it will operate more flights on modern, more fuel-efficient aircraft, such as its new Airbus A350s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
He hopes they will help him achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050.
Boeing’s 747 helped democratize global air travel in the 1970s and marked its 50th flight anniversary in February 2019.
Boeing, based in the United States, marked the end of production of the plane a year ago.
A wave of restructuring caused by the virus outbreak is affecting airlines around the world, along with aircraft manufacturers and their suppliers. Thousands of lost jobs and permits have been announced in the past few weeks.
Hundreds of BA ground staff face redundancy as the airline cuts costs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
