Article from BTNews 25 FEBRUARY 2019
BOAC, BEA fly again
Crowds gathered at Heathrow last week to watch the arrival of a British Airways B747, registration G-BYGC, bearing the colours and livery of one of BA’s predecessors, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).
BA is repainting some of its fleet in “heritage liveries”, with that of British European Airways (BEA) next in line on an Airbus A319. The aircraft entered the paint bay at the weekend, returning to Heathrow next month.
Last week’s landing marked the B747 first flight anniversary a few days before. The BOAC livery adorned the airline fleet between 1964-1974 and was applied to G-BYGC at the International Aerospace Coatings (IAC) facility at Dublin Airport.
The aircraft’s second flight in the new colours was on Tuesday, when it operated BA117 to New York JFK, particularly significant as it was the first route the B747 flew in BOAC colours.
The aircraft will now continue to fly BA B747-operated routes to showcase the design and can be tracked using Flight Radar, which will feature a special image of the livery.
The BOAC livery will remain on the Boeing until it retires in 2023, by which time BA says it will have withdrawn the majority of its B747 fleet, replacing them with new state-of-the-art long-haul aircraft.
On 1 April, British Airways is 45 years old.
OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)
All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum
Michael Preston, Weybridge/CPT
A return to good old fashioned customer service by BA would be even more welcome than these beautiful and nostalgic liveries.
michael Imeson,
...and the days of Comet G-APDK which took me to Salisbury Southern Rhodesia in 1962! Still have the picture of me arriving taken by a friend in the viewing area!
mike carrivick, wokingham
I yet may happen, but the first 50 years from 1919 (the true pioneering years) have yet to be captured in PR and marketing terms/liveries.
Graham Greenwood, REDDITCH
That takes me back to the days of the Vickers Viscount