Qantas has bid adieu to its final Boeing 747-400 today. But in true Qantas style, it isn’t going quietly off into the night. Right now, the plane has just finished drawing its iconic kangaroo logo off Australia’s east coast. When that’s done, the flight will fly through the night to California and a short spell in long term parking.
“It’s hard to overstate the impact that the 747 had on aviation and a country as far away as Australia,” said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce earlier today. The plane opened up inexpensive international travel to Australians and opened Australia to the world.
“The aircraft made a big difference to Qantas. We couldn’t let it go into the desert, to leave Qantas, without one final send-off.”
The plane, VH-OEJ Wunala pushed back one last time at Sydney around 15:30 local time today. That was a bit behind the published time, but hey, let’s not dwell on that. Simple Flying was in the Qantas hanger this afternoon. Sydney-based reporter Nick Cummins even got to sign the plane’s fuselage.
Qantas had advised that the plane would take its time leaving Australian shores. Usually, the Los Angeles flights bolt straight out through the Botany Bay Heads and out over the Pacific for the 14-hour trek across to LAX.
We knew the plane would take a swoop over Sydney Harbour and head down to Wollongong to wag its wings at Qantas original 747-400, now housed at an aviation museum south of Sydney. What they did keep quiet was this.
