Qantas Boeing 747 flies to aviation museum
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Qantas’ first Boeing 747-400 aircraft, which is celebrated for having flown the longest commercial flight in history from London to Sydney, has now made its shortest journey – from Sydney to Illawarra Regional Airport in New South Wales.
The 15-minute flight was undertaken to deliver the jumbo jet, named ‘City of Canberra’, to its new home at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS), where it will become the only B747-400 in the world on public display.
“Having graced the pages of the record books, revolutionised air travel for Australians, marked a huge technical feat for Qantas and carried millions of passengers… our B747-400 ‘City of Canberra’ is very deserving of a graceful retirement as the star attraction at one of Australia’s most prestigious aviation museums,” said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
The retirement forms part of Qantas’ fleet modernisation plan. Over the past few years, the airline has been gradually retiring its older B747s, while others have been refurbished with new cabins.
The official handover of the B747 to HARS will take place on 15 March 2015.
Aircraft facts:
25.3 years in service
13,833 flights
106,154 flight hours
4,094,568 passengers carried
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