British Airways is preparing to retire its last of three original Boeing 777-200 aircraft. The British flag carrier will be left with many of the extended range version. The 777-200 retirements began before the current crisis that has brought the airline industry to its knees.
At the moment, many are mourning the loss of British Airways’ fleet of 747 jumbo jets. Earlier this summer, the airline sadly announced that it wouldn’t fly the aircraft with passengers anymore. While the first of the final 31 747s left Heathrow earlier this week, other aircraft are also being retired. Today G-ZZZA, the sixth Boeing 777 to be built, took its final flight.
Two-thirds have gone
Two-thirds of British Airways’ three Boeing 777-200 aircraft have now departed Heathrow for the final time. In January, we saw G-ZZZC make one last journey to St Athan in Wales. There, it will be scrapped.
G-ZZZC was one of the first 777 aircraft to be delivered by Boeing. The planes were given the registration G-ZZZ_, as the triple Z looks similar to 777.
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Today G-ZZZC was joined by G-ZZZA. G-ZZZA last flew with passengers on March 19th. The aircraft had flown from Abu Dhabi to London. Since it arrived in London, it has remained on the ground until today.
This morning, G-ZZZA departed from London Heathrow at 10:54, according to data from FlightRadar24.com. Operating ferry flight BA9171, the aircraft flew towards Wales, where it began to hold above the Bristol Channel. After 58 minutes of flight, the plane touched down at St Athan at 11:52. It won’t fly again.
According to data from Planespotters.net, G-ZZZA took its first flight on February 2nd, 1995. The aircraft was delivered to British Airways over a year later on May 20th, 1996. Now over 25 years old, the aircraft has completed 100357 flight hours. This equates to 11.5 years of flight time.
One more to go
Now, the oldest Boeing 777 in the British Airways fleet is G-ZZZB. According to reports, this aircraft is also set to head to St Athan to be scrapped in the coming weeks. Once this is retired, BA will only be left with the Boeing 777-200ER and Boeing 777-300ER.
British Airways is working on a younger, more efficient fleet of twin-jets for its future operations. Alongside retiring its oldest 777s, the airline is also in the process of saying goodbye to its Boeing 747s. These aircraft are being replaced by next-generation aircraft, including the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787s.
Additionally, from 2022 the Boeing 777-9 is also set to join the fleet. However, Boeing recently revealed that the first aircraft wouldn’t enter service until at least two years after it had planned. This could perhaps pushback the entry into service of BA’s first 777X.
Did you get to fly on one of British Airways’ original 777s? Let us know what you thought in the comments!
