Airline salvage workers have begun to break up Boeing 747 jets in the Gloucestershire countryside as British Airways retires its whole 31-strong fleet of the large passenger jets amid a plunge in global air travel.
The four planes – G-BYGF, G-CIVL, G-CIVL and G-CIVN – are being scrapped and dismantled by a specialist team from Air Salvage International (ASI) at Cotswold Airport outside Kemble as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Photographs taken yesterday showed the engines on some of the 747-400s having been removed at the former Royal Air Force site, which is also home to various flying schools and was once the Red Arrows base.
This week G-BYGF became the fourth BA plane to retire to Kemble, landing in front of a group of planespotters having completed a 24-minute flight from London Heathrow and a loop of the villages around Kemble.
BA is retiring all of its 747 planes amid a continuing crisis for air travel after severe travel restrictions were brought in around the world when the Covid-19 crisis intensified across Europe in March.
Photographs taken yesterday show the engines on some British Airways 747-400s have been removed at Cotswold Airport
Four British Airways 747-400s are being stored at the airport near Kemble in Gloucestershire after being retired by BA
The four planes are being scrapped and dismantled by a specialist team from Air Salvage International at Cotswold Airport
BA is retiring all of its 747 planes amid a continuing crisis for air travel after severe travel restrictions were brought in globally
The jets are being sent worldwide for storage and scrapping, with G-CIVD leaving Heathrow earlier this month for Castellon in Spain. Seven of the BA fleet remain at Heathrow, which is where the Kemble planes had been based.
Fourteen of the BA fleet are being stored 70 miles away at Cardiff Airport, including one in the historic livery of Boac (British Overseas Airways Corporation) which was the airline’s predecessor.
A further five in the fleet are being stored at Teruel Airport in Spain. Earlier this month, BA chief executive Alex Cruz said: ‘We are starting the early retirement of our beautiful 747-400s as part of the reshaping of our airline.’
In a letter to staff, the 54-year-old added: ‘This is a necessary move reflecting the cliff-edge drop in premium long-haul travel, which may never recover to the levels we saw in 2019.
‘If these were normal times, we would be celebrating the retirement of the Queens of the Skies with a great deal of noise including special commemorative flights and colleague events.
Airline salvage workers have begun to break up the British Airways Boeing 747 jets in the Gloucestershire countryside
British Airways is retiring its whole 31-strong fleet of the large passenger jets amid a plunge in global air travel
BA staff and plane enthusiasts are said to be keen for souvenirs from the jets, four of which are in storage at Cotswold Airport
‘Sadly, given the difficulty of operating during the pandemic, the farewell will be less lavish, but still heartfelt.
‘I know many of you will join me in fond remembrance of these remarkable aircraft that have served us and our customers so well. There will never again be anything quite like them.’
BA staff and plane enthusiasts are said to be keen for souvenirs from the jets, with ASI owner Mark Gregory saying the firm is receiving many inquiries from people keen to own a part from one of the jets.
He told the BBC: ‘I get a daily stream of emails from BA staff and 747 fanatics who want to buy a piece of a plane. A cut-out side section is popular which can be hung on the wall.
‘These usually go for about £200 each. They are good aircraft and have done a lot of hours. They have definitely earned their keep.’
The British Airways Boeing 747-400 G-CIVU passenger aircraft lands at London Heathrow Airport on July 14, 2018
(From left) Elysa Marsden, Toni Richards and Olivia Welch walk in front of a 747 at London Heathrow Airport in March 2019
Mr Gregory added that there has been a ten-fold increase in airlines looking for storage facilities, with the company having 11 747s parked up, with some being dismantled and others going up for sale.
He said engines make up around 80 per cent of the value of a retired plane, with some selling for more than £2million, although the Rolls-Royce ones on the BA 747-400s are expected to sell for less.
The 747-400s, which can take up to 15 weeks to dismantle, first began flying more than 30 years ago. Boeing sold almost 700 of the jets, which made them the best-selling version of the long-haul airliner.
ASI, which has 170,000 sq ft of hangarage at the airport, has space for up to 20 wide and 50 narrow bodied commercial aircraft and has disassembled nearly 600 around the world in its 18 years of operations.
It comes as Gatwick Airport has cut one in four of its workforce or 600 posts – taking the number of jobs lost at big British firms since the pandemic past 252,000.
And airplane manufacturing giant Rolls Royce has announced it would close a major UK site in Annesley, Nottinghamshire, by the end of 2022 – weeks after announcing 9,000 job cuts.
A Boeing 747 jumbo jet is pictured next to the Concorde airliner at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport in October 1978
The arrival on the world stage of the giant Boeing 747 in 1969 ushered in a new era of air travel. One is pictured above in 1971
The travel sector is not expected to recover until 2023 as fears over quarantine and catching the virus push tourists to stay at home.
However, the Mail has learned Britons will be allowed to visit New York without having to quarantine on their return under plans being drawn up by UK and US officials.
The re-opening of the Heathrow to New York route – the world’s most profitable air link – would help rescue long-haul airlines that rely heavily on trans-Atlantic travel, including BA and Virgin Atlantic.
However, industry sources say US officials are likely to insist on Covid-19 testing at British airports before they agree to re-open their borders.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has repeatedly played down the idea of airport testing, claiming swab tests would fail to spot almost 90 per cent of asymptomatic cases.
But in a growing revolt, more than 80 MPs – including 40 Tories – have warned that failure to endorse airport testing will have a disastrous impact on the travel industry and wider economy.